


Tasogare

by Onthewayyyy



Category: Iron Fist (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Cults, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Foggy Nelson Is a Good Bro, Foggy Nelson Is a Little Shit, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Sexual Content, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probably ooc, Romance, Secret Identity, Sensei Colleen, Supernatural Elements, Swearing, Vigilantism, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25723978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onthewayyyy/pseuds/Onthewayyyy
Summary: - 黄昏 (tasogare) is defined as “dusk” or “twilight” -Colleen likes teaching, it's what she's found herself to be good at besides just plain fighting. It's nice, being able to help people.Of course, if only she could get a handle on the being a vigilante thing. Cults and madmen certainly don't make it easier. Luckily, the solution comes in the form of a student, though she doesn't know it at first.*Slight AU in which Colleen and Danny never dated. Takes place after Iron Fist season 2 and before DD season 3*I suck at summaries, you'll get a better idea of what this entails by reading it.
Relationships: Brett Mahoney & Colleen Wing, Brett Mahoney & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Colleen Wing/Original Male Character(s), Franklin "Foggy" Nelson & Original Male Character(s)





	1. seeing you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a fair warning, I haven't even seen Iron Fist season 2. I watched the first season when it originally came out. So Colleen may or may not be OOC. I'm thinking she most likely will. Sorry if that's not for you.
> 
> Made a correction and fixed a tiny plot hole with the mask. 12/28/20

Colleen eyed the ensemble of people before her with a carefully neutral face. Chikara Dojo had not been active as an actual place of learning for months, not since the war for New York. The sounds of strikes landing and grunts of pain or exertion were the only thing that gave the place ambience. Before, it was a place for Hand hopefuls to join the cause. Now, with Danny in Japan, and Colleen having no day job to speak of, reopening the dojo seemed like a good idea. It was still funded by Danny, and after only a week of advertising the classes, around twenty-five people signed up.

However, after fifteen minutes, it became clear that training these new students would require a _lot_ of time and patience. A quarter of them clearly had no idea what they were doing, and while the others seemed to have some sort of training, they were by no means good. Granted, she should've expected as much, that was the whole point of starting with a light spar to see where they were at. Still...

"Alright, stop!" She called out, halting everyone.

 _God_ what did she even say to a performance like that?

Two dozen faces looked back at her now, all varying in age.

"Well," She began slowly. "Looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time getting positioning down before we begin with actual striking." Colleen resisted the urge to face palm at her own words. _Way to instil confidence, Wing._ She thought bitterly.

Before she could start to formulate a plan with her class, the door to the dojo creaked open.

A man stepped in, dark brown messy hair and slightly peach coloured skin. He wore fitting sweatpants and a black muscle shirt, with a gym back on his shoulder. He looked inside and met her eyes.

"Am I in the right place?"

_"Yer fucking dead, bitch!"_

_How cliche, she thought wryly, though it may be true soon enough._

_Colleen slammed hard into the side of the building. Her hood was still miraculously pulled over her face, now if she could only..._

_Move!_

_Her brain shouted the command, and her body followed it. A gigantic wrecking ball made a crater in the wall where she was up against. The Wrecking Crew have been making moves all across the city. Guns, drugs, trafficking, they had their hands in everything. Danny was gone, so was Daredevil. Colleen doubted Luke or Jessica were equipped to take this kind of threat on. Then again, was she?_

"To succeed in this class, you're going to have to show some grit." She told her students, eyeing the newcomer warily as he settled in the back to listen.

_She dodged a chunk from a wall, only to be unceremoniously tackled to the ground by the blonde haired one, Piledriver, she thought his name was. Colleen let the power of the iron fist flow through her, and landed a hard punch on his head. There was a brief moment where he was stunned, allowing for her to slither out from under him. Colleen drew her sword, thanking whatever higher power that might have existed that it didn't shatter from the impact._

"You've got to have determination! In here I will work you to the bone, and you have to learn to adapt, or go home."

_She was in an alleyway next to a warehouse. Colleen was able to gain information from one of their thugs that they were going to hit this place tonight._

_A door burst open nearby, and a gruff voice called out._

_"Calusky! Let's get the hell out of here, I hear sirens!"_

_Piledriver looked at her, and looked back at his buddy who was obscured from her view by 'Calusky's' hulking mass. He turned, no doubt to bolt, but she wouldn't let him get away that easily._

_Her sword glowed white, and Colleen lunged forward with a slash. Piledriver may be invulnerable to most forms of damage, a chi powered katana isn't exactly conventional. Blood sprayed from the wound, but Piledriver just kept running._

_Except then he wasn't, Colleen gave chase but suddenly he turned around and delivered a powerful punch right to her face. She flew back, and when she sat up, Colleen could taste her own blood._

_"I've seen yer face, this ain't over."_

_With a start, she realized her hood was off and the mask covering her nose and mouth was down._

"And above all, you must be honourable, disrespecting your peers here will not be tolerated."

_"Fuck you." She grunted out._

_His laughter stayed in her ears long after the fight._

"Line up, grab a _bokken,_ and we'll start with some of the more basic positions." She told them all.

* * *

By the end of class, Colleen had made countless corrections, and more than once felt her patience get challenged, but the class was in better shape than before.

"Lockers will be assigned for you in time, next session is in two days, be here on time please."

She said it without thinking, and her eyes drifted over to the latecomer, who flushed. Out of everyone who came though, he performed the best. It was actually quite refreshing.

Cleanup was intercut with questions from some of her students. One of the men there had given her what he thought was a charming grin as he spoke. Colleen resisted the urge to gag.

The latecomer had asked politely about what else they'd be learning, and if it was strictly Kenjutsu. She answered that it was, and spoke about eventually moving on to strikes and blocks. He flashed her a small, shy smile.

Pretty much everyone made to leave at the same time, and even in the chaos of multiple people trying to fit out the door, her eyes still unconsciously found dark tousled hair.

* * *

The Wrecking Crew laid low, and life moved on. She'd heard whisperings about a cult, and something weird going on by the docks, but thus far hadn't seen anything concrete. Brett Mahoney of the fifteenth precinct didn't seem to put much stock in these rumours, rather wanting to focus his attention on Wrecker's crew of idiots.

" _My guys can't seem to pinpoint a location in time, they're always showing up late._ " He had said over the phone. They hadn't met in person yet, Colleen had just snuck into his office and left a slip with the number to her burner phone and a newspaper clipping of her first outing. It felt very Batman Begins-y. None of it was allowed, of course, not after the Sokovia accords. But if Brett cared about the new laws, he didn't show it.

It may not have mattered to him, but it was quickly becoming concerning to Colleen. Brett was right on the crew being a bigger threat for the moment though, so when a call came in to investigate a possible location for a minor hideout in the meatpacking district, she immediately set off.

But there was no need. When she arrived, there _were_ some of Wrecker's men there (and why a man stronger than most Asgardian Gods needed minions to do his dirty work, Colleen would never know) but all of them had their hands zip tied to some metal beam. Various bruised and cuts were layered on their skin. Most were unconscious, and some looked even _relieved_ at her presence. Colleen had seen some false confidence in her opponents before, no doubt believing they just hit the jackpot because they'd run into some woman in white, but never anything like this.

The one closest to Colleen spoke, a gurgling sort've growl that grossed her out to no end.

"Are you with the police?" He said in a voice barely above a whisper. Blood dribbled out of his mouth, and his left eye was swollen shut. "I'm guilty." He mumbled before she could answer. "We all are."

A thousand different thoughts ran through her mind like gunfire, each one more terrifying than the last. _How did this happen?_

"Who did this to you?" Colleen asked, too disturbed to do much else.

He shook his head violently, as if the act of telling her would physically pain him. "Can't." He sputtered out. "He'll _know,_ and - and then he'll _come_ for us."

No matter how much more she questioned, none of them told her anything of note other than how they _wouldn't_ tell her anything, clearly out of fear of someone else. _But of who?_ That was the question that stayed on her mind as she left Brett a message of the location.

* * *

"Asshole! Be more careful!"

Colleen was in the middle of helping out a student, when she heard the shout from across the dojo. It wasn't the first fight she'd had to break up, altercations were all too common in places and situations like these, but it was the first time since reopening Chikara. Still, a fight after only four sessions wasn't ideal.

Maybe it was a swipe that was too eager and hit someone else accidentally? Or maybe the victim was pushing it farther than it needed to go, perhaps they wanted a fight.

A hand, so impossibly quick and nimble, darted out to grab the man's hand before he could rear it back to punch.

Messy haired and looking deadly serious, the latecomer - _Jason_ she remembered his name being, they had all introduced themselves on the first day - held the would be attacker's hand lightly.

"Let's not do this here, remember all that talk about honour and respect?" He said quietly, yet Colleen heard it loud and clear.

Edgar - the volatile man - looked ready to swing at Jason too, but one glance at his intense stare seemed to squash that idea down. They went back to what was instructed, albeit, it was now significantly more awkward, and Jason took to practicing with the other man who'd accidentally slashed Edgar with the _bokken,_ Tomas.

Despite all this, Colleen was actually happy someone took her words and teaching to heart.

Now if only she could do the same.

* * *

She found him after class as he was going through his locker. Colleen noticed that he was always one of the last to leave. He looks up at her in small surprise, and she can't help but notice how he flushes at the praise like he's never received it before in his life.

"That was a good thing you did there."

"It was nothing," He said as he continued to dig around in his locker. "I'm sure you would've stepped in soon enough."

"Not soon enough to stop that punch," Colleen told him pointedly, sitting down nearby on the bench. "Were you watching them the whole time?"

If Jason looked embarrassed before, he was downright _uncomfortable_ now. It even made Colleen feel _weird,_ and that just wouldn't do.

"Just instinct really." He muttered, pulling out something wrapped in tinfoil.

Colleen eyed him oddly, did he not know how fast he moved back there? "Some instincts you got there then - is that a funnel cake?"

The tinfoil was taken off, and there all in its sugary glory was an honest to god funnel cake. Colleen couldn't help but laugh, it bubbled out of her and she found it hard to stop. And Jason, he looked like a child caught doing something they weren't supposed to. 

"Is this a cheat day for you then?" She asked with a stupid grin. Colleen couldn't explain it, but his reaction and just the sheer silliness of it all made her want to laugh even more.

"No! Er, no, it's for my friend you see," Jason said in an effort to explain himself. "he pretends to be annoyed about picking me up from here, so I got this for him because he loves this stuff."

Colleen made a non committal "uh-huh", and Jason just looked at her exasperatedly. "Why take it out now though? Surely you'd just give it to him in the car?"

He mumbled something then, but she didn't catch it. "What was that?"

"I'm hungry."

Colleen couldn't help it, she started laughing all over again. And after a while, he joined in too. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed like this.

It was nice.

* * *

She lazed around her small flat above the dojo. The last embers of the sun shone through her window, it reminded her of back home in the mountains of Honshu. When she was a child, Colleen's mother would bring her as high as she could to watch the _tasogare._ She missed those days, they weren't exactly simpler, but they were nice all the same. She had no family left now, her mother died when she was young. Her grandfather followed not too long after.

Watching the sunset was always a signifier that it would soon be time to go out. Vigilantism was a relatively new concept to her, and so far Colleen felt like a failure. Not for the first time she wondered how the hell Danny did it at all. Sometimes it felt like she was stealing the mantle from him, only stepping up because he wasn't here.

_"Attention all units, we've got a 10-10 on 58th street. Shots fired."_

There it was, the call to action.

Colleen just hoped that this time, she'd be ready for it.

* * *

Bodies, there were bodies everywhere.

Some were alive but unconscious, others were not so lucky. The coppery smell of blood permeated the air so strongly that Colleen wanted to gag. It wasn't the work of Wrecker and his dimwitted lackey's, this seemed much more sinister. The inside was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Candles were _everywhere_ , giving the impression that a seance was just held.

What had the police officer said over the radio? 'Shots fired'? Colleen looked around, there were bullet holes alright, but no sign of the person or _persons_ that fired them. Everyone in the room had no visible weapons nearby.

A scream pierced the silence. So abrupt and loud that Colleen jumped. It came from outside, and she got over her shock quickly. Colleen bolted for the back exit and entered an alleyway. A man stood there facing her, dressed in black with a white mask. A sinister grin was encapsulated on it, one that made Colleen suppress a shudder. Hollow eyes peering down lifelessly at another man below him.

He had a hard grip on a squirming person covered in blood. The shadows covered him, making it seem like they were _apart_ of him.

"I swear," The other man blubbered. "I swear to god that's all I know!"

Colleen expected a brutal strike as she stood there frozen on the spot, a punch to worm the absolute truth out of him.

It never came. Only a distorted sounding whisper, something that was even scarier than further punishment.

"Swear to _me."_

Shouts sounded off from behind her, and more men joined the fray. Finally, the man in the mask looked up, and her eyes only met a blackness in the sockets of the mask. The new arrivals had weapons, guns and knives. Colleen took a worrying pleasure in beating them down. A painful reminder of her days in the Hand turned into a gleeful opportunity to put her skills to use. It was a sickening thought that causing others this pain could make her feel accomplished, but every crack of a jaw or nose pushed those thoughts away as she lost herself in the fight.

Colleen looked back once or twice at her temporary compatriot and briefly marvelled at how he melded into the shadows themselves, sending flip kicks and controlled haymakers at his adversaries. They way the person moved.. it was inhuman.

Men fell all around them, some groaning and some making no noise at all in their defeat, but by the end only two figures were still standing. Colleen and the person in black. 

"I didn't kill the men inside," He said, still in that same garbled whisper. "They killed their comrades just to try and get a shot at me." With that, he vanished into the night, leaping onto a fire escape and making his way onto a roof of an adjacent building.

Later, she would reflect on his words as well as Brett's from a voicemail on her burner phone.

_"That guy you mentioned, he's been appearing all over town busting up operations like that. Always locations with candles strewn about everywhere like a damn seance. He's run into the Wrecking Crew a few times too, left even the top guys with some pretty nasty bumps. Last year, some high profile contract killer waltzed into town with his own private army. This guy was the real deal - I mean, tangled with Captain America even. But in a few months? Tossed out on his ass."_

In the absurdly late hours of the night, Colleen sat in her bed under the cover of darkness, laptop in hand. She looked up the incident Brett talked about, and she learned all about Taskmaster's global endeavours as an assassin. But she also read a story, a report about the first sighting of the one who took him down. How like a beautifully brutal wave in stormy waters, he swooped down onto a would be murderer.

 _"A wave in the night."_ The victim had described him.

Colleen thought it was amazing.

* * *

Time passed, and Colleen found herself drifting closer to Jason unconsciously in lessons, always being nearby to watch his progress as well as trying to find the mysterious man in the white mask. She was tired of being left in the dust, always showing up late. She knew that she was just acting as the Iron Fist in a sort of interim while Danny searched for Orson Randall with Ward. It was her duty to protect this city in his absence, but every time she went out Colleen couldn't help but feel like she was failing miserably.

Two weeks passed by though with Colleen having no such luck in finding the person again. No more incidents like last time popped up though, it seemed as if they'd decided to be more cautious. The Boiling heat of late June only worsened in New York as the days progressed into mid July. If there was one thing going right though, it was her classes.

"Alright now everyone, I think it's time we move onto proper sparring this time. I'll choose the partners."

She then divided up the class as best she could. It was a little hard considering the fact that there were an uneven amount of people. Someone would go without a partner, unless she practiced with them. Colleen had just the idea too.

One by one she paired her students up, she saw some expressions falter as they didn't get placed with the ones they wanted. Particularly, she saw a few of the women's faces sour at not being paired with Jason. He'd become quite the commodity after the incident he helped prevent. A part of Colleen was vaguely annoyed by this. It took away valuable training time, and a _lot_ of them could still definitely use it.

In the end, she paired herself with him.

It _wasn't_ on purpose.

* * *

He was good. _Really_ good.

She knew he was skilled, it was obvious in the time since the classes started.

For every strike she threw at him with a _bokken_ , Jason blocked or countered it wonderfully. He didn't fall for any feints either, and Colleen found it difficult to make any progress.

Soon enough, everyone else was more or else just watching them, preferring to abandon their own fights to watch the one of teacher against student. The way Jason fought constantly changed too. It could be elegant and smooth to blindingly fast and brutal. None of them have actually landed a blow yet though, it's like their still assessing one another despite being far beyond that stage now.

A feint.

A counter.

A shift.

Inwardly, she's struggling to keep it up with it all, but won't let it show. Jason seems to be doing the same, his face an impassive mask.

And then it happened, he moved in, going for some sort of swipe that Colleen didn't recognize in the moment. But it was a diversion, and she nearly realized it too late. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason start to move his leg in a sweeping motion. The swipe of the _bokken_ was a feint! Colleen stepped back just in time to dodge it and place her own _bokken_ at his throat in the blink of an eye.

Jason looked surprised, and she just smirked.

"Not exactly what I had in mind for the parameter's of the fight, but the leg sweep was smart." She told him with a smile. A _real_ smile. Colleen hasn't been satisfied with much in her life, but _this,_ this was good. _Fun_ even.

He gave her a small, shy smile. A trademark of his, and a foreign sensation settled in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Jason, if you keep chatting up your Sensei, I'm going to be late for my seven o'clock! Which by the way, is an incredibly insensitive time for someone to need legal counsel. That's my special donut eating time."

A man with short, dirty blonde hair walked into the dojo after the lesson, a grin on his face and a bag around his shoulder. She was talking with Jason about the spar, when he arrived.

"Hey Foggy," He said with a sigh and small smile at her as he stood up off the bench to greet his friend. "You're here early."

'Foggy's' grin grew wider. "Hey, I've been dying to meet this wonderful teacher of yours!"

Colleen looked between the two men with confusion. "What is he talking about?" She asked.

Jason's quick "Nothing!" was interrupted by Foggy's excited response.

"Only that he talks about you, a lot." He said with a smile. "Not in a creepy way of course, Jason is just new to town, doesn't know a lot of people. This poor, innocent soul only has me to protect him." Foggy slung around Jason's shoulders, and the man himself looked at his friend like he'd just killed his pet. "Says you're a great teacher, really inspiring."

"Jason, you really said that?" Colleen asked.

"No! I mean - yes! But I don't talk about it _all_ the time." He tried to explain as his face reddened and he became increasingly more flustered. "I just-" He shot his friend a dirty look. "Foggy likes to joke, especially if it's at my expense."

"Hey," Foggy said with a frown. "That makes it seem more mean spirited than it actually is."

Then it all suddenly came to her. She'd _seen_ him before! At the Harlem precinct when her Danny, Jess, Luke and Daredevil went to midland circle. Hadn't he been placed there because the Hand might've been after the blind lawyer, Murdock? And _then_ she remembered what Danny told her about Murdock's last wish. It was obvious now even if Colleen didn't really understand how a blind man could be a vigilante. She didn't comment on it, perhaps it was still a sore subject. Colleen knew Foggy recognized her though by the way his smile faltered when he entered, and how he kept shooting her what he thought were discreet glances.

"That's very sweet of you." She told him with an easy smile, and Colleen felt that weird sensation again in the pit of her stomach.

They left soon after, and even when Colleen also went out to patrol, she couldn't shake the memories of Midland Circle coming back to her. Danny's haunted face when she told them of Murdock's death flashed in her mind constantly.

How did Jason know Foggy? And more importantly, did Jason know that Murdock was Daredevil as well?

* * *

She tried looking for him. The man in the white mask.

Several nights were spent in search. She wanted - _needed_ to know how he did it, how he commanded such fear from the criminals of this city. It was a selfish need, to be better for the sake of herself more than the city, but Colleen's always thought that way in the first place.

She catches glimpses of him on occasion, leaping away from a crime scene, or even surveying one she had already gotten to from afar. Sometimes, Colleen would see him speaking to Brett in an alley away from other prying eyes and police officer's.

Other than her annoyingly curious ones, of course.

It wasn't exactly allowed, Brett interacting with a vigilante like that, but then again, neither was their little partnership.

Colleen meets him again properly on complete accident. She's following a strange lead, the Wrecking Crew hasn't been spotted for some time now. Not since she and Piledriver had fought a the warehouse where they had stolen a whole load of guns. Brett had told her that New York had a war on its hands. It was hard to disagree.

This was something else entirely.

Five different men had been taken into police custody, none of them spoke a word of english. One was Spanish, another was from Grenada, two recently came overseas from Brazil, and the fifth one was from France. All were seemingly working for the same mystery organization. One that translators were able to tell them the men claimed would "save them all from eternal damnation". Those whisperings of a cult seemed all the more legitimate now.

After a while, they did give up a sixth. They claimed that the man was from Japan, which made Colleen's job a little bit easier.

She tracked him down to an abandoned warehouse, and the reoccurring theme of hideout choices made her roll her eyes.

It was dirty and looked to be uninhabited, but by this point she knew better. Colleen entered the building noiselessly, creeping in between skids stacked on top of each other and then...

" _Sore wa doko ni aru?"_

She understood what it meant instantly. _Where is it?_ Colleen also knew who had said it, the garbled voice gave him away. She crept to the edge of a stack of skids, and peered around its corner.

There he was, pinning a terrified looking Japanese man against a grimy wall. Blotchy black patterns shifting into lines and other abstract designs moved all over the grinning white features of his mask.

" _Dokku de. Watashi wa sore o_ _chikaimasu!/At the docks. I swear it!_ " The man answered quickly.

There was no violent retaliation to his words, but the masked man leaned in closer, the features on the mask twisted into an ugly snarling face.

_"Anata wa bakageta hanashi o shite iru dake no bakadesu. Hando wa haiboku shimashita. Genzai, dare mo sokode katsudō shite imasen./You are just an idiot talking nonsense. The Hand was defeated. Nobody operates there now._

Those words stopped her cold. How did he know who the Hand was? And more importantly, just what did this all mean?

Colleen stayed hidden as the vigilante tried to further interrogate the man, but his eyes became unfocused and he merely kept mumbling incoherently.

And then she realized, the crazy dude was telling the truth! Or at least, partially. Colleen remembered all the rumours she had heard about strange goings on at the docks.

"He's not lying," She said in english, emerging out from her hiding spot. "Not entirely, anyway."

His head snapped up to look at her, and he remained silent. Obviously waiting for her to continue. "There's been some rumours, B- my _contact_ \- in the NYPD doesn't have enough to go on though." She gestured at the Japanese man with one hand. "He's clearly delusional, and while he might be wrong about the Hand, something else might actually be there."

There was a long pause, and Colleen resisted the urge to fidget under the intense gaze of the mask. Finally, he jerked his head in a terse nod.

She felt inexplicable elation at this, and so they quickly set off to the docks.

* * *

The docks were mostly empty, though a few beat cops still wandered around aimlessly. The NYPD knew better than to leave such a place unguarded, less undesirable cargo arrive from overseas. Sadly, it wasn't exactly uncommon for just that to happen anyway.

Her newfound excitement at the prospect of going to potentially do some actual work with _him_ never wore off. If anything, it only increased the closer they got to the docks.

The air thickened and Colleen inwardly promised herself that she would shower longer than normal when she got back home. New York had a way of making you feel extra dirty, and even a decently long shower couldn't remove all the grime one accumulated from living here.

"There," His distorted voice said softly. Colleen nearly jumped, so lost in her own head that she forgot for a moment of why they were even here in the first place. "Lights are on in that boat house." He said. "On actual land instead of suspended over water, I'm betting there's a huge cellar underneath of some kind."

She looked over to where he was facing as they stood on the docks. "Seems that way," She muttered, her voice slightly muffled by her cloth mask. Colleen needed to invest in one like he had, probably offered more protection. "Let's go then."

They made their way over to the boathouse, keeping a wary eye out for anybody nearby. Once at the door, a putrid smell reached her nose.

"Eugh," She groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What could be in there?"

He said nothing, instead opting to open the wooden double doors. The smell only worsened, but he still trudged on.

"How is this not bothering you?" Colleen asked him incredulously as they looked around the damp and old boathouse.

"Mask filters it out." Came his answer as he walked over to a large worktable in the centre of the room.

"Right." She said awkwardly.

His hand slowly glided lower down the table until it reached a spot near the bottom corner. There was a distinct beep as she saw him press something. The table let out a mechanical hiss and started to move slowly backwards, revealing a dimly lit staircase.

"How did you know that was there?"

She received no answer.

They went down the hidden stairs, the red light barely illuminating the way. The farther they went down, the worse the smell got.

"We're getting close," He murmured. Colleen didn't bother responding, finding that statement obvious enough.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, they finally reached a landing. "How did they manage to burrow down this deep?" She frowned, finding it mildly annoying that she'd been asking too many questions like this in the short time they'd been here.

"I don't know." He responded, voice still distorted by whatever modulator that was apart of his mask. The sound bounced off the walls, creating an odd clarity, further adding the creepiness of it all. Him not knowing what they were stepping into didn't exactly help either.

The room they entered had newspaper clippings littered across every wall. More of the same candles she had seen the night Colleen met him were also pretty much everywhere. At the centre, was an altar complete with a stone table. Blood was splattered all over it, some blotches dryer than others.

She didn't even want to _think_ about what had been going on here. The room itself was rather large, but it was only a singular room. At least, Colleen thought so, she hadn't noticed the secret button before so anything was possible. She looked around at the newspapers. There were some here dated all the way back to Tony Stark's proclamation of being Iron Man. There was the Hulk's fight in Harlem, Thor in New Mexico, Captain America waking up... There was even things about Daredevil taking down Wilson Fisk, Jessica Jones murdering Killgrave, Luke Cage and Cornell Stokes.

"What the...?" She muttered. There was an article about Danny returning to New York after all those years away. His admittance to the mental hospital, Harold Meachum's murder, the events of Midland Circle were here too.

She moved on, not even registering where her temporary ally was. There were multiple pictures of the various hero's that operated in New York. Many of the Avenger's were listed here, along with small notes on each member. All the Defender's were there too, as the news had taken to calling them. The notes were short and to the point, describing where in the city they operated as well as abilities and known connections. She glanced over to him, and saw that he was looking at clippings describing his own escapades.

Her eyes then fell on a picture. A startling realization came over her, and Colleen could feel the goosebumps on her arms.

It was of Chikara Dojo. A recent picture too. She suddenly remembered Piledriver's words from all those days ago.

_"I've seen yer face, this ain't over."_

"We have to leave," She said, not even turning to look at him. "Now."

He almost made to leave too, but he paused abruptly.

"Can you hear that?" He said, head tilting.

Her patience was running thin. "No, can we go now?"

But he ignored her. "Sounds like, air..." his hand reached out for a wooden crate close by to him. "swirling around - but, how...?"

_**FWOOM** _

The crate in front of him fucking _exploded_ , red gas bursted out right into his face, and whatever it was, his mask apparently not equipped to filter it out because he began coughing up a storm. Colleen wanted to run in, but just as soon as she was about to go for it, he stumbled out of the huge cloud of gas.

"Get back!" He yelled, and Colleen didn't even think twice.

He coughed profusely for a long moment, and she fidgeted as the gas cloud seemed to keep growing bigger.

Finally, she decided enough was enough. "C'mon," She grunted, grabbing him by the arm and quite literally dragging him up the stairs. About halfway up, he managed to find his footing to some degree. It was still very much Colleen carrying him though.

"Ho...garth," He moaned, his voice was no longer distorted, and the mask's blotchy black design was frozen in place, showing a pained expression on its features. She didn't even have the mental capacity to deal with how that was possible at the moment. "Need... to... get to Hogarth." He said again.

"We're going there," She lied, because _of course_ she lied. Chikara was her priority now. How could she be so stupid? It was plain that they knew who she was now, but the lack of action on the Wrecking Crew's part had lulled her into a false sense of security. Whatever this cult was, they were obviously in league with Wrecker and his men. They reached the top of the stairs, by now he was leaning heavily on her. But opening the double doors of the boathouse didn't give her the relief she expected.

"Told you he'd fall for it. The girl being here is a surprise though."

In front of her stood Piledriver, Thunderball and Bulldozer. Their coloured getups clashed violently with each other and the dark New York night.

"Dumb bitch thought she was bein' smart." Piledriver jeered.

"Shut up," The one to his left said, Thunderball. "Boss said he wants this done quickly, and they're _both_ here now, so let's get it over with."

"It'll be my pleasure," Piledriver said, suddenly lurching forward to take a swipe at them.

Colleen felt weight shift to her left, and a fist flew out blindingly fast. There was a loud crack as it connected with the super villains jaw. Piledriver went flying back into the water. His fist - no, his whole _body_ glowed an ethereal dark yellow colour as if he were made of it.

Thunderball and Bulldozer were as stunned as she was, but not for long. Bulldozer charged very soon after he comrade had landed in the Hudson. A shove from her ally sent Colleen out of harms way. Bulldozer followed him, Thunderball stayed with her. She could barely do anything other than dodge though, as his huge wrecking ball left a crater in the places that she occupied mere moments before. Colleen needed some separation, and fast.

Could the Iron Fist break the ball? Colleen didn't quite like her chances, but it was her only option short of just running away. So while she dodged and dodged, she also further led the Wrecking Crew member back to the boathouse. A near miss smashed through the former hideout, and she found her opening. It took him a moment to drag the weapon out of the rubble, and when he swung it at her again, it met Colleen's glowing white fist. Predictably, the enchanted wrecking ball didn't shatter. However, it _did_ bounce back with such force that Thunderball was not prepared for it whatsoever.

There was a sickening crunch, and Thunderball slumped over.

It was a foolish thing to hope he'd stay that way for long, so Colleen immediately ran to grab the other vigilante and leave. Bulldozer, she saw, was struggling to his knees while the one in the white mask was laid out on the floor.

For the second time tonight, Colleen heaved him up by the arm, looping it around her shoulders and dragging him along. A splash alerted her to Piledriver's return, but she still kept moving. It was a futile decision though, as the super-powered criminal reached them in no time. She tried to bat him away, but with a basically unconscious musclebound man hanging on her, it obviously didn't go well.

Another crunch signified the breaking of her nose from a while elbow, she bit back a yell as a rib snapped, then another, and another. Just as Piledriver was about to live up to his namesake by flipping her upside down in the air with one large hand, the man in black - who had been tossed aside at the start of the assault - dove in and tackled Piledriver to the ground as he glowed that sickly looking yellow again. Her fist lit up white again as she delivered a swift punch to Piledriver's face.

"How the hell did they know we would come here?" She said aloud. 

"Trap." Her companion groaned, once again using Colleen as a crutch.

" _Clearly._ " She bit out.

* * *

Chikara Dojo was empty, and it still did nothing to calm her nerves. Why attack them at the docks and leave such a paper trail? All just to keep them there long enough?

He protested the whole way there, getting more and more coherent about seeing some "Hogarth" person.

"This place was in their little exposition room," She told him, finally looking over at where he was sitting down on a bench and leaning on lockers. A small part of his mask was chipped off, and the expression still showed one of pain. "How does it do that, you mask?" Colleen asked as she made sure once again that nobody was here. "Change expressions, I mean."

There was no answer for a moment, and Colleen briefly wondered if he'd passed out, but then he spoke.

"I have no idea." He said, and she rather thought he was telling the truth. The distortion in his voice was significantly less obvious now, but still enough to mask a decent amount of it. "It just does it."

She didn't really have a response for that, but she _did_ have more questions.

"Who's Hogarth?" Colleen noticed him tense up. "You kept saying that name."

"I-"

But who this mysterious person was, Colleen would not find out just then.

_Knock Knock_

He froze mid sentence, and Colleen's head snapped towards the closed door to the dojo.

Nobody with good intentions could be knocking at this hour, it was far too coincidental. Colleen inched closer to the door anyway, instinct driving her forward more than anything. But he instead shuffled over to the back of the dojo.

"Wait," He ordered. "There's something behind the wall here." 

In the split second that it took for Colleen to look over at him, it all happened at once.

A gunshot rang out, and the door was blown off its hinges. There was also a grunt as something made contact with the back wall of the dojo, and almost the entire thing caved in.

Dozens of men stormed inside, all carrying various weapons. Colleen spotted at least two men with pistols, the rest had an assortment of bats, metal pipes and knives. The men swarmed him first, like a violent tidal wave they encompassed him in their mass. His fist cracked a jaw, then two as he roared in rage. A kick put him on his ass, but he got up rather fast. Every attempt to fight back was met by a hard resistance. A crowbar was wrenched out of surprised hands, and even more surprising when he was able to bend it nearly in half. Slashes from knives bounced off his body armour, so the men resorted to brute force, and they had that in _droves_.

Colleen was only able to take one of them down when the person who had blown the door open made his presence known.

"Ah darling, why'd you go and have to bring the meathead? Made things a tad more complicated for us."

It was a man in a cheap looking tuxedo. A red hood covered his face and extended downwards into an elegant cape along his back. He had a British accent that seemed faked for some reason.

He walked around her, idly smacking her companion with his cane when he reached the other side of the dojo. Colleen regarded him with caution the entire time.

It was bad, the man in the white mask was now being held on his knees and restrained by the dozen men that had infiltrated the place. A few were out cold on the ground, but most were still up.

He kept talking as if nothing had happened. "You made a mistake that night, trying to stop us. You showed your face. Dimwitted little Calusky was so excited to come back and tell us he had seen the face of the woman who had been interrupting our plans for a while now." She could barely make out a grin underneath his hood. "It was quite adorable, really." He then wagged his finger at her playfully. "You've been giving us a rather annoying headache of late, working with the police to clamp down on our operations."

So it was true then, some sort of cult did in fact exist. The men who had come with the hooded one all dressed in red robes and plain white masks, not street clothes or cliche all black military style getup. And they were working with the Wrecking Crew? But why? Colleen had a lot of questions, but she rather doubted she'd get any answers to them.

"You and your friend here," He continued, once again turning to the other vigilante. "Not so nice when the shoe's on the other foot, eh?" There was a loud smack as he bashed his cane into the man's face. "You put many of my loyal followers in hospital or jail. Tonight will be a delicious serving of payback, for all those that pledge their allegiance with me shall know my love and protection."

If she wasn't so on edge, Colleen might have rolled her eyes at his words. This wasn't some one-sided banter between her and any lame brained wannabe thug she usually ran into, this was someone with true _power_ and the bodies to back it up. Someone who knew her identity.

"Little Colleen Wing," He drawled, openly mocking her. "Playing at being the Iron Fist while Rand is in Japan."

Anger boiled up within her, but Colleen knew she could not act on it. For if she made a move, she'd surely get her companion killed. A knife was placed warningly at his neck.

The man in the hood turned back to the other vigilante. "That's right mate, she runs this little dojo here. But I'd wager you've known that for a while now, eh? How are you feeling though? I bet that gas we got you with is working wonders. Don't worry, it won't kill you, even if it feels like it is." He let out a long suffering sigh. "Took me a while to come up with that concoction, you're a tough nut to crack, you know that? I find myself incredibly curious of your true identity, and how you have managed to hide it for this long from us." Without warning, he grabbed him roughly by the chin of his mask. "We _see_ everything, _know_ everything." He snarled in a sudden change of attitude. "Such ignorance can go on no longer. You there!" He suddenly shouted to one of the men. "Rip this heathens mask off."

His follower stumbled over quickly, not wanting to make the hooded man upset. He reached under the vigilante's chin to take it off, but yelped pitifully as he was thrown back by an electric shock.

The leader laughed maliciously at his misfortune. "I should have guessed." He said. "Fine then, WRECKER! Come in here my friend."

Thundering footsteps singled the arrival of another man, one that Colleen immediately knew was the one that broke down the back wall of the dojo to begin with. A chill went through her as she realized who he was. Wrecker was the leader of the Wrecking Crew. He was a stark contrast to his compatriots as well. Whereas they were often disorganized or outright stupid, Wrecker was calm and deceptively intelligent. He wore a dark green one piece suit that looked more like a motorcycle jacket, with a purple ski mask, belt and gloves as well. His weapon of choice was a magically enhanced crowbar, one that was comically larger than any she had seen before. It acted much like Thor's hammer, in that it would come back to Wrecker if he called for it. Like his fellow crew members, he had god like strength and endurance. Bullets had almost no effect on him whatsoever.

"Hello darlin', nice to finally meet." He said calmly, a grin on his face.

And then without warning, he grabbed the back of the other vigilante's head, and swung the crowbar into his face.

Colleen couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her mouth, and she thought for sure that he would be dead. There was a disgusting crunch, and his arms that were swinging out at the men holding him back went limp. On instinct she moved forward, her sword was still sheathed on her back, but the familiar sensation of chi flowing through her fist started to ramp up.

_**BANG** _

She fell back, and her hands immediately went to stop the blood flowing from her abdomen. The man in the hood had whipped out a somewhat large looking pistol and fired at her.

He didn't say anything, just wagged his finger at her playfully before turning his head back to the other vigilante, gun still pointed at her. Two other men stepped nearer to her, and Colleen watched on as the white mask somehow did _not_ crack, but limply fall off the vigilante's face, much to the muted surprise of the men around. A badly bruised but familiar face greeted her, one with sweat matted dark brown hair.

_Jason?_

She wasn't so stupid as to say it out loud. But her eyes widened and thoughts started running at a mile a minute.

"Hmm, you recognize this tosser?" The man in the hood asked, turning to Wrecker. He received only a slow shake of the head after the mountain of a man inspected him with his beady eyes. "Drat. I was expecting some billionaire - Oi, who are you anyway?"

There was only a glare in response.

"I _said,_ " He swung his cane violently at his head. " _Who are you_ _?_ "

"Marc Spectre." He grunted out.

"...Mate, you're gonna have to try harder than that to fool me."

No response.

The man with the hood sighed. "Fine then, perhaps I'll just go on over to see that lawyer, yeah? What was his name again, Froggy? No, that can't be right..."

One of the men spoke up. "Foggy, boss. Foggy Nelson."

He laughed at that. "Christ, that's even worse. Right then, I'll go see this Foggy Nelson, and show you just what happens when you disobey the _Hood._ "

It was a mistake to threaten his friend, apparently, as without warning Jason jumped out of Wrecker's grip to deliver a savage blow to the Hood's face.

"You sunnuva-!" Wrecker shouted.

Jason pointed his arm at the ground, and through her pained haze she saw small pellets shoot out of something on his wrist. Harsh smoke exploded out from them, and several men started coughing, Wrecker and Hood included. The men beside Colleen ran forward, and she heard blows connect and bodies slump. She backed up, going to the edge of the dojo closer to the door that wasn't encased in smoke. She heard again several strikes hitting, along with the yells of blinded men as they called out in vain. Hood's body flew into the wall right next to her.

_"You wan't to know who I am?"_

Colleen saw a dark figure forming in the smoke, and suddenly, Jason walked out of it purposefully towards Hood. The cult leader tried to raise his gun, but Jason disarmed him with ease, tossing the gun aside.

"I'm Nightwave."

Hood chuckled. "You should fire your publicist, mate. By the way, you know the guns are just for show, right?" He raised his left hand up and made a finger gun with it.

When he clicked his thumb down, the dojo exploded, along with five other buildings in the surrounding area.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies if the Japanese used is inaccurate here. Let me know what you think though! I've never written a chapter this long before so I'm very nervous as to how it is. Please review!


	2. midnight, somewhere

Howls of laughter followed them through the grimy alley's of the city. Colleen was once again supporting a broken Jason as they made their way as far as possible from Chikara dojo. When the explosion happened, Jason leaped towards her to be a human shield. Wholly unnecessary, Colleen felt like she got hit by a train anyway, but she supposed it was better than death.

They passed by a large billboard, the pink light making Colleen wince in pain. Definitely a concussion.

"Here," He rasped out, nearly making her jump.

" _Here?_ " She questioned incredulously.

Jason had stopped her in front of a nondescript apartment building.

"Fire escape." Was his only response.

She thought she'd die on the way up, but Colleen was eventually able to get them there. By that time though, every molecule in her body was positively _screaming_ at her to drop dead. She went over to a door, and for a brief moment she was scared that it'd be locked. It wasn't though, so they stepped inside.

Colleen brought him over to a couch, ignoring the squelching sound of her suit moving around with her own blood. The bullet wound she sustained from earlier was well and truly catching up to her now in all the worst ways.

"How are you not _dead_ yet?"

He choked out something that could've been a laugh, or a cry of pain. "Too damn stubborn."

_Yeah, that sounds about right._

"I'll say," She muttered before wincing again at the pain. "Shit, that hurts."

Like a hawk, she saw his eyes zoom in on her wound. He got up suddenly - and when had they sat down? - and shuffled over to the kitchen, groaning as he did so. A medical kit landed right in front of her on the couch. Colleen's vision started swimming, and she could feel her heart pound rather painfully in her chest. 

He was at her side again shortly with a garbage can, already tugging the zipper of her white (mostly red now) jacket. She felt the him move it aside as he lifted the shirt she had on underneath up a little. Colleen's breath hitched as the soft pads of his fingers found her skin, his gloves were now apparently off.

"This'll hurt," He said. "A lot."

Barely coherent anymore, Colleen could only give a jerky nod. She bit back a yell when the tweezers went in, and had to bite the side of her hand as he took the bullet out. But once it was gone, his soft hand flattened against her stomach. It glowed that odd yellow again, and she could immediately feel a soothing sensation overtake her. She noted with muted and hazy astonishment that the bullet hole _closed up._ Colleen felt much better than she had before.

Jason hefted himself onto the couch, and promptly passed out.

She followed suit almost immediately.

* * *

When Colleen woke up, she found herself in a tangle of limbs. Bleary eyesight gave away to a startling clarity as her vision only showed a foot in her face. She got up, careful not to wake the other sleeping form. Her bones ached in protest as she walked over to the kitchen. The apartment was small, and a screen looking thing was leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom. It was in all honesty, a bit of a mess. She wasn't one to judge though, as her place wasn't exactly neat either.

A sad sensation came over her. Her little flat above the dojo was nothing like her home back in Japan, but it was still her _own_.

The bright billboard she remembered making her wince the night before was still there, shining annoyingly. Still, the New York sunlight was a welcome sight, she counted herself extremely lucky to even be alive right now. 

Jason jerked in his sleep and abruptly woke up, nearly falling off the couch.

She rushed to him in an instant. His eyes opened in no small amount of fear.

A hand reached out, and Colleen didn't stop it.

It mapped her face, cupping both of her cheeks and noting all her features. As if he couldn't-

"I..." He rasped, eyes unfocused and looking at a spot just over her shoulder. "I can't see. I can't - _see,_ Colleen."

* * *

The weird gas trap the Hood had left for him at the boathouse was slow acting, but extremely dangerous. Whatever it was, it messed with his powers, as well as vital bodily functions apparently. It's why he was able to pull a bullet out of her last night, but could only see blobs of colour now.

"How do your powers even work again?" She asked for what felt like the tenth time as she tried to wrap her head around it.

He sighs, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. Getting him changed had been an... _experience._ Jason was, in short, fucked up. Besides just the eyesight problem, his face was more purple that its normal skin tone, and terrible gashes were scattered across his body. Places where chunks of the dojo had stabbed, scratched, and knocked into him. His suit was tossed into the closet. It took minutes of hushed arguing and a threat to tie him down to the couch to get Jason to stay put, even longer to stitch him up.

"It just requires focus, I don't know any other way to put it. I need it, so it comes."

She initially compared it to how the Iron Fist worked, but this was too different. It enveloped his entire body at times, and at others just his arm or hand depending on what he needed. The use of his powers drained him too, certain aspects more than others though. Healing, for example can easily tire him out, especially if the wound is severe or if he's already exhausted, even knock him out. Case in point, him healing her bullet wound last night.

"We should lay low, and plan." She said suddenly, standing up and moving towards the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she frowned at the sight that greeted her. "It's pretty barren in here," She said, lifting a milk carton out to inspect it. Oddly enough it was in braille. "Looks like some of it's expired too. You live here?"

He shook his head, eyes somber. "No, it belongs to a friend."

"They coming back?"

Colleen regretted the question immediately. Jason just looked so _sad_ now.

"They're dead."

* * *

"What's your opinion on takeout?" She'd asked him that night.

He flinched from his seat on the couch, hand running over a book, before shrugging. "Depends on the place, I've only ever tried it once and the experience isn't one I'd like to repeat."

She smiled a little. "That bad?"

Jason's looked over to her general vicinity, an unimpressed look on his face. "Foggy said that trying it was necessary for someone in my line of work. But Foggy also likes to pack himself powdered donuts for his breaks at the office, so."

"That's not an answer." She chided lightly.

He scowled at her, but answered anyway. "It had _octopus_ in it, and he didn't tell me."

She would _not_ laugh at his misfortune, not right now anyway. Upside of him not being able to see though, meant that she could grin without fear. Was that an asshole thing for her to think? Maybe.

"So... pizza then?"

"Pepperoni, please."

* * *

They ate mostly in silence, the coffee table offering her a nice foot rest. Colleen was glad that the damage wasn't as severe for her. When Jason healed the bullet wound, his weird mystical powers also looked after the brunt of her injuries from the explosion itself too. Not everything, unfortunately, every bone in her body still felt sore.

When they got up, Jason himself fell over. She made to help but a hand waved her off. He tried to get back up on his own to no avail. Colleen let out something of a growl in annoyance. "Don't be _stupid._ " She grabbed him by the arm and hefted him onto the couch.

"Strip." She ordered.

He looked up at her dumbly. "W-what?"

"Sweater. Off. Now."

Jason listened, but it was a struggle to do it on his own, so with Colleen's help, they got it off.

Several of his injuries had started bleeding again, no doubt he'd need new stitches. "How'd you manage to make these reopen?"

He shrugged and then winced. "Wanted to see how much I could move."

"Idiot." She muttered, before going back into the kitchen to get the first aid kit. "You're lucky there's any left at all."

She didn't know what else to say besides more berating. They needed a plan, but they also needed to heal to even act on those plans. It was frustrating beyond belief. Colleen moved her hands over his abdomen, he winced when she reached a spot below his pectoral. 

"Was that from the explosion?" She asked, looking at the circular bruise.

"Metal baseball." He mumbled.

Colleen blew out an exasperated breath. "Your life's too stupid to live." She paused. "A _metal baseball_?"

Jason shrugged. "We were at some pawn shop."

* * *

The following days stayed more or less like that. Wakeup, check Jason's stitches, usually admonish him, and then find something for them to eat. The only reason she was able to get any food for them the first day was because of the small amount of cash that was stashed in the closet. By the fourth day, they were all out.

When she brought the issue up, Jason didn't answer immediately. But after a while, he got up and walked purposefully to the nightstand in the bedroom. It was marred a bit by his very obvious limp, and she saw his face twitch in pain, but if he wanted to act like that then it was on him.

So lost in her own musings as she was, Colleen just barely caught the key that was tossed at her.

"328 West 44th Street. Be careful, and don't show your face. They could be watching it." Was all he said.

It didn't occur to her until much later, when she was already nearly there.

How had he known exactly where the key was?

* * *

Getting into the apartment was a breeze. For a brief moment, she was worried that the concierge downstairs would hassle her, but the tall man paid her no mind at all. She went up to the fourth floor, and unlocked the door without any issues. 

Jason's words from earlier left her on edge. The Hood didn't know who he was at first, but that didn't mean he didn't now. Or at the very least, knew a general location. After all, he did know that Foggy was connected to Jason.

So far though, it seemed all clear. The place was pretty nice, all things considered. Light brown wooden flooring with plain white walls. A few windows, a kitchen, et cetera. Colleen wondered how he was able to afford a two bedroom in Hell's Kitchen.

One thing that did her wariness no favours was the nondescript design of the place. If she didn't know any better, Colleen wouldn't be able to tell that an actual human lived here. Oh, someone definitely did, but it felt lifeless. Like it belonged to the sort of person who wasn't around much. It lacked _personality._

She found a wallet sitting on a glass coffee table, checked to make sure his card was in there, and then went to find the washroom. Once she was there, she grabbed his toothbrush and paste as well. Colleen went to grab some shampoo and body wash, when she noticed the label on the bottle. The other apartment had some, but if Jason was anything like her, maybe he preferred to use his own stuff. It was the same one she used, an apple cinnamon scent. She took it and left, locking the door behind her.

* * *

The stares she got while walking back didn't surprise her. What did though, was when a ridiculously large crack in the sidewalk tripped her up. Colleen didn't face plant, thank _god._ But she did drop everything in her hands, which was only slightly better than the former.

She was close to the apartment anyway, so almost nobody was walking nearby. Colleen bent down to pick up the fallen hygiene products, inwardly cursing her inability to walk.

"Mrow."

Her eyes snapped to a small black mass strutting over from the shadows of the alley next to the apartment. An all black cat with big green eyes. It couldn't have been more than a few months old, it was so _tiny._ It walked with a sort of limp that eerily reminded her of Jason. It's front left paw looked slightly bloodied. It was incredibly thin too, Colleen could see the bones pushing against its skin.

"What did this to you?" She muttered. More to herself than the cat. Still, it seemed to understand, as it gave a downright _fearful_ glance back down the alley it came from. There was a low growling noise as a few dogs stepped out of the shadows baring their teeth menacingly.

Colleen gave them an unimpressed look, before scooping up the injured cat and stalking off. It hissed in protest, but could hardly struggle.

* * *

"You got a cat?"

Okay, so admittedly, she hadn't thought this all the way through.

"Yeah, so?"

_Easy there, Wing, it's a fair question._

She'd gotten the cat - now named Kenji, after her grandfather - some food, a bowl, and a litter box. The apartment was big enough to house the cat, and Jason certainly had enough money on that credit card of his.

He grumbled something that she didn't catch, still looking at her exasperatedly.

She swore there was the slightest quirk in the corner of his mouth.

It was very much worth it.

* * *

"Did you know it was me under the mask the entire time?"

The question has been on her mind ever since they've been cooped up in the - frankly boring - apartment. Now even more days since arriving, Colleen was incredibly bored. There was no television here, not even Jason knew the wifi, so they mostly sat around all day and napped. Well, Colleen napped, Jason read and only slept when she forced him too so his body could recover in peace.

Jason frowned, and Kenji shifted awkwardly in his lap. It was unfair really, how the cat had taken to adoring the man. Colleen fed the damn thing! Jason just sat around all day. Granted, he had no choice, and Colleen would threaten to castrate him for any unnecessary trips around the apartment, but still.

He didn't answer right away, and it bothered her more than it should have.

"Your shampoo, it has a strong... _smell_."

Her eyebrows raised.

"I-In a good way," He said in a rush to explain himself. "My senses are heightened, it's why I knew where they key was in the drawer, I could smell the metal."

She wanted to be mad, she really did. But what was he supposed to do? _"Hey Colleen, I totally know your secret_ _identity, let's get blown up and then spend who knows how long stuck in an apartment together while we try not to hate each other. I know you're a prickly person with abandonment issues, what could go wrong?"_

Was she projecting? It felt like she was projecting. No, it would only be projecting if she was saying these things about Jason, and he was anything but prickly. The abandonment issues might be true, she didn't know him all that well though.

Except, after almost two weeks like this, it sometimes felt like she _did_ know him well.

He hated it when she chewed too loudly, found her snarky comebacks hilarious but wouldn't admit it (this was more wishful thinking on her part as she only ever saw him give the slightest of smirks at them), knew how to shut her down before arguments could start, or alternatively be an excellent listener when she wanted to make a point. He always insisted she take the bed while he slept on the uncomfortable looking couch. He cooked more often than not, despite her protests. He was pretty damn good at it too, she had to admit.

Jason must have taken her silence for anger, because he quickly spoke again.

"I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable..."

And then something came to her.

"Is that why you bought the same shampoo as me?"

He blushed furiously.

"I-It's a _nice_ scent."

* * *

For all his good qualities, Jason could truly be an idiot.

Stubborn as all hell, funny that it was something they had in common.

Ten minutes, she was gone for _ten_ minutes. The blood on the floor made her heart race. Colleen had gone downstairs to pick up groceries that they ordered online. Delivery was much safer than actually going to the store itself, they'd agreed. Jason was in the kitchen, clutching at his hand with blood dripping onto the floor. If he heard he come in, he didn't show it. Kenji stared down at him passively from the kitchen counter.

"Shut the fuck up." He snapped at the sink.

"Jason?" She called out hesitantly.

But he could not hear her over the whispering's of the devil in his ear.

So she walked over to him, grabbing him softly by the arm. "C'mon." She muttered, lifting him up slowly. He didn't look at her, didn't speak. Just let her guide him over to the sink. The water got rid of the still flowing blood. And she held his hand under the tap. Jason was sweating and breathing heavily. The cut wasn't deep, which was very fortunate, because they were out of stitches. After a few minutes, the bleeding stopped.

"How did it happen?" She asked.

"S-squeezed it too hard." He practically bit out.

_What the hell had caused him to do that?_

"Do you... do you want to talk about it?"

A quick shake of the head.

"Okay, that's okay. Let's just go sit down, yeah?"

He nodded, and so she led him over to the couch. His limp was still there, if now less pronounced than it used to be.

They sat there for a while, neither speaking. That is, until Jason's breathing levelled out. 

"I think I'm alright now."

Belatedly, Colleen realized she was still holding his hand.

She went pink. "Skin to skin contact promotes healing. Oxytocin or whatever."

_God, what was she even saying?_

He quirked an eyebrow in her general direction. "Isn't that for babies?"

Colleen scowled and let go of his hand. "Shut up." 

Jason looked oddly put out by the loss of contact. "You didn't have - never mind."

Her stomach did an involuntary flip, and it was now her turn to raise an eyebrow at him. But he was already reading running a hand over a book that had been left on the couch.

Tentatively, she brought it back over, cursing internally at the rate her heart was beating at.

_When did she become such a fool about things like this?_

He didn't look back at her when she grasped his hand again, but he did still for barely even a moment. He accepted it.

And so Colleen sat there for a while, feeling like the world's biggest idiot, and not knowing what else to do.

All she _did_ know, was that his hand felt too damn good in her own for her liking.

* * *

She awoke snuggled around his arm, head on his shoulder, and a small amount of drool escaping from the side of her mouth. His head was tilted on hers, and Colleen was surprised he even managed to sleep like that. No doubt Jason would be a bit stiff when he woke up.

Her cheeks went pink when she realized that she was _still_ practically _cuddling_ him.

_Skin to skin contact promotes healing._

Colleen cringed when she remembered her words from last night. What was wrong with her? She stewed over that for a few moments, listening to Jason's breathing while trying to sort her own thoughts out.

He snored lightly for a moment, and Colleen just felt so _warm._

* * *

Things changed from that day on in ways Colleen could easily _explain_ , but not understand.

They still did almost nothing most days besides lazing around in the apartment. While Colleen was almost fully healed now, Jason still walked with a limp, and still could not see. She'd gone and gotten medical supplies the day after they woke up together on the couch, so his bandages were being changed more regularly now. He still somehow managed to cook meals like a professional chef despite the loss of his sight. A feat that was not lost on her whatsoever. She had so many questions, but no idea how to broach it. Jason had not had an incident again since she had found him that one time. And they spent a majority of the time sitting _very_ close to each other on the couch.

He never said anything, so neither did she.

The radio was an interesting way to get him to open up more, she'd picked it up from a pawn shop. She wanted to jokingly ask Jason if that's where he'd been hit by the metal baseball. The words disappeared in her throat when she got home though. He was on the couch, lying down with Kenji curled on his chest sleeping peacefully. He was humming some sad sounding tune she didn't recognize.

"Hey," She called out. He didn't flinch, must have heard her coming already.

"Hey."

There wasn't really much to do around the place, other than an annoying want to snuggle up beside him again. Thankfully, her little trip out today would solve that.

"I bought a radio to make things more lively in here. God knows we've been practically dying of boredom." She didn't even believe in a higher power, and certainly not the Christian one. Colleen frowned at her wording. "I also got baking supplies to - you know, bake."

His blank expression didn't change. Colleen feared he'd shut her out completely if she outright asked. "As one does." He replied, with a touch of sarcasm.

Slightly putout, but not deterred, she continued on. "Some plain sugar cookies, chocolate chip..."

His eyes flicked towards the bag from where he was laying down. A brief internal struggle appeared to happen that showed on his face. Before he gently moved Kenji off him (he still hissed at the abrupt awakening) and got up to help her.

And so ten minutes later they found themselves covered in flour as they made abysmal attempts at baking. The stupid radio barely picked up any good stations, and Colleen immensely regretted not asking about any kinks with it. Terrible Italian opera music played in the background of their activity. She mimicked the man's voice that was currently singing.

It was awful.

Jason laughed.

She kept doing it.

* * *

"You won't get away with that, Wing!"

"Oh we'll see about that!" Colleen shouted back in response, cackling afterwards.

Kenji let out a hiss that turned into a cough as a ball of dough caked in flour hit the ground next to him.

Shitty baking had devolved into a childish food fight, one that she was _totally_ winning.

 _Smack!_

Dough hit her in the back of the head. She had peeked around the kitchen counter to see where Jason was, but got caught by surprise.

"Aaaaand you're dead."

She huffed at him while taking the dough out of her hair and putting it on the kitchen counter. "You cheated." 

He smiles at her, his eye's dancing, and Colleen immediately decides that she doesn't care he had the advantage.

"Be more quieter." 

"Ha ha, I'm not the one who can hear heartbeats, weirdo."

Jason shrugs, still smiling.

Maybe. Just maybe.

This can work.

* * *

Slowly but surely, she starts going out more.

It's dangerous, sure, but they can't hide forever.

Jason's eyesight is coming back more and more too. His powers are still very much depleted, at least, the mystical ones. The truth is, she has no real way to gauge just how much he can detect with his senses. That is, without outright asking, and Colleen doesn't know how touchy he is about it.

It's never really stopped her before, being blunt and bold. But things are different now, her _home_ exploded. Being cautious was necessary. The police haven't tried to find her, or if they had, they did a pretty poor job of it. That, or nobody would bother checking a dead man's home.

"How strong are your senses?" She asks this before she can stop herself. Maybe old habits died hard. But Colleen hopes it isn't too personal of a question.

Thankfully, Jason doesn't show any sign of being uncomfortable with it. He instead shrugs, hands still moving over a braille book.

"I can hear your heartbeat." He says after a moment. "But only because you're snuggled up to me at the moment."

Colleen fights down a blush. She _is_ practically snuggled up to him.

"Fine then." She says in mock offence, sitting up straighter and punching him lightly on the arm. "Jerk."

Like the time they held hands, he frowns at the loss of contact. He puts the book down, and looks at her. "It's hard to explain really. I've never tested the limits, but I know I can't do it as good as a friend of mine. He can hear all across New York, if he focuses. Can tell exactly what people have eaten, and where its came from."

"Kinda creepy." She said, thinking of how bad it would be to smell McDonald's on someone's breath. "The possibilities though."

Jason shrugs again. "He had the abilities from a young age."

"Was he the one who lived here?"

Silence, and then-

"Yes."

His attention is now solely on the book, but his hands are not moving. His mouth trembles.

"I'm sorry."

Jason nods shakily. "S'fine."

 _It's clearly not._ She wants to tell him. More than that though, Colleen wants him to know that expressing his emotions won't make him look weak. That he's allowed to _feel._

She's not stupid. There's nothing to do in this damn apartment besides sleeping and snooping. It's not hard to figure out someone blind lived here. Colleen remembers Foggy from the Midland Circle incident, which means it takes almost no time at all to realize that it wasn't just some random blind person.

They were in Daredevil's home.

Colleen doesn't say all that though, instead opting to wrap him in a one armed hug from the side. It's not much, but she just hopes that he _knows._

"You're not alone."

* * *

Being cooped up in a small apartment created problems.

They were constantly around each other. This newfound closeness that had sprung up without comment from either of them somehow put her on edge and eased her at the same time. It was something unspoken between them, but was still always _there._ It doesn't make much sense, but nothing about her life has made much sense since meeting Jason.

"We need a tv." She says randomly one day, as he maneuvers his way around the kitchen to prepare lunch, it's something with a lot of spices involved by the looks of the multiple bottles lined up neatly on the counter.

"Bored already?" He jokes, back turned to her as he leans over the cutting board beneath him, knife cutting away.

Colleen rolls her eyes. "The only thing to do here is sleep. I was bored on the _second day._ "

Jason doesn't answer for a little bit. The only sound that fills their silence is the knife hitting the wooden board and the sound of meat being sliced through.

"I think you should start going back out there." He says finally, putting the knife down and turning to face her. "Sitting and hiding here won't do us any good, and seeing as how I'm not exactly ready to get back to it. I think it should be you."

The truth is, she's been dreading this. Sooner or later, a move had to be made. Either by them or the Hood; and in three weeks they've not seen or heard of any activity from their adversary, leaving the ball in their court, so to speak. But with Jason's eyesight coming back at a snail's pace, and still no powers to speak of, Colleen's not so sure she can do this on her own.

Before, there was a primal, almost violent urge to prove herself, to step out of Danny's shadow. But with that has come the realization that she is so out of her depth. Colleen spent years working for an organization that hurt people, and only months after at trying to _help_ them instead. What good could she do?

That was too much to say to him though, and a mental breakdown in front of him was the last thing either of them needed right now.

"Neither of our outfits are really fit for a night on the town." She said lightly, not meeting his unseeing eyes.

His mouth is set in a thin line, and his eyes search her face, as if he can _see_ through her words.

"I know a guy."

* * *

Melvin Potter looks at both of them with an air of nervousness that makes even Colleen feel uncomfortable.

"It'll take some time to make another suit," He says, eyes flicking back and forth between them. "Especially if you want it stronger than before."

Jason's standing in the shadows with her, the dirty windows allowing very little of the streetlamp's light in, but just enough to slightly illuminate his grinning mask.

Even though his suit looks like it's been through hell, the mask is untouched. Colleen isn't sure how that's possible.

"How long?'

That same distorted whisper is there, it _still_ sends shivers down her spine. Thankfully, she's pretty sure Melvin can't see her all that well in the darkness. When Jason said he knew someone, she didn't think he meant an actual blacksmith of sorts. Melvin was built like a wrestler, but as skittish as a kitten. She got the sense that he trusted too easily.

Melvin swallowed harshly. "I dunno. A month, maybe a little more. Starting from scratch wouldn't be too bad, I still have your measurements..."

_I feel like there's a 'but' coming._

"But finding something more durable and still lightweight'll be hard, unless you're willing to foot the bill of ten thousand dollars a gram for vibranium, I dunno what I could possibly get for you."

Silence. Colleen's thinking hard about how much it'd cost to make a suit out of it, and just where they'd even find someone selling the rarest metal on earth.

"Just get the mold for the suit ready. I'll be back again soon."

With that, they leave. It's not until they're nearly at the apartment that Colleen speaks up.

"How're you going to get your hands on vibranium?"

The smile on the mask suddenly looks more goofy than sinister.

"No idea."


	3. in your arms that night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, the end of this chapter has a somewhat steamy scene.

Here's the thing, she never planned for any of this.

A month ago, Colleen was mentally preparing herself for _teaching_ again. Now? Now she was watching over the docks for any shady individuals carrying shady cargo. It was a risk, a laughably big one. Something she wasn't even sure she was _ready_ for.

She was sitting on the roof of a closed down corner store. Binoculars in hand.

Ships tended to come in at all sorts of odd hours of the night. Colleen's seen furniture offloaded, food, all manner of electronics, but nothing illegal as far as she could tell. Granted, they could have just been hiding it really well...

As another ship came in, this one steel grey in colour, men quickly entered the area, all exiting from cars.

Ah, there it was.

" _See anything?_ "

Jason's voice startled her through the earpiece they'd gotten. Cautiously purchased from a Best Buy.

"Lot's of dudes with silenced guns. Someone wants this kept quiet." She observed, frowning at how the men carried themselves. They seemed to be nothing more than petty street thugs trying to be something they weren't. The way they stood watch was sloppy. Their positioning allowing for many areas that Colleen could slip in through undetected. Her suit, which she still wore for lack of a better option, hardly offered any protection now. Not that it did all that much before. They _needed_ this. Countless hours spent together delving into what Jason knew about New York's criminal underbelly, which was admittedly a _lot,_ and even using Brett's police connections led them to this night. She knew Jason loathed being sidelined for this, but they might never get another shot.

" _Then you'll just be quieter, won't you?_ "

"Needless to say..." 

She was moving, leaving the binoculars on the roof. She'd return for them later. Her hood and mask were on now, and Colleen's hand twitched instinctively for her sword. They'd be unloading the ship any moment now, she needed to be in position. Colleen snuck passed two unsuspecting men with ease, noting their positions and keeping them in mind for later.

If by some tragic bout of misfortune this shipment _didn't_ have vibranium, at least they'd be able to bust up this drop, send a few scumbags to jail.

"All right," called a loud voice. "Let's get this over with. Don' wanna stay in this shithole any longer than strictly necessary." The voice, male sounding, was in an accent she couldn't place. And from her hiding spot behind some crates, Colleen could just make out a short grisly looking man step out from the boat and onto the docks. The other men looked nervous at his arrival, one of them nodding hastily and bringing over a briefcase full of cash.

"This is..." She said quietly so only Jason would hear.

" _What do you see?_ " He asked, intrigue clear in his voice.

"This is the most cliche deal I've ever seen. Seriously, I feel like I'm watching a shitty action movie."

" _This isn't a time to crack jokes, Colleen. Is the vibranium there or not? Oi! Down Kenji, you're not allowed up there._ "

She'd giggle if it didn't mean being found out. "I don't have a good look at anything yet, they're still making sure the money's good I guess." She frowns as they move closer to the boat, which is just out of her sight.

"I'm getting in closer."

The man with the odd accent signals to some men still on the boat, apparently satisfied with the cash, and they carry out a medium sized crate. Most eyes are either on the deal or keeping a poor watch, so Colleen's able to sneak up a little closer, crouched behind some shipping containers.

"Getting this over the years cost me a lot," The mystery man said. And when he turned his head to look back at the men a gnarly tattoo was exposed on his neck. It didn't look like anything she'd ever seen before, the area around the marking looked burnt as well. "Now you seem good for your money, and your boss might just be the real deal."

The man with the briefcase, which was now closed. Nodded in respect. "The Hood always comes through on his word. He is nothing if not honourable, Mr. Klaue.

'Klaue' waved away his words. "Yeah, yeah, I get that. So why the bloody hell do we have an uninvited guest!?"

Colleen's heart dropped. How had he'd known that she was there?

The other men froze, evidently confused.

"You might as well come out now!" Klaue called out. "I had camera's set up ages before my arrival. No point in hiding anymore."

Instead of doing what he asked, Colleen had a better idea. One that involved punching. The grunt nearest to her, one that was looking around wildly saw her too late. A fist connected with his face before he could even raise his gun, and Colleen inwardly relished how he crumpled to the floor.

"There she is!" Another shouted, and gunfire thundered into the spot she was in just seconds before. Colleen was on the move now. Dipping in-between shipping containers as she made her way around to where the ship was. Going straight for it from her initial hiding spot was suicide, and would likely get her riddled with bullets.

She registers Jason calling out for her over the earpiece, but she doesn't answer and instead keeps going.

Another one with an automatic stepped around a corner, and she let her chi flow into her katana as she pulls it out of its sheathe. Colleen swings upwards, and the sword cuts through his gun like butter. She spins keeping the blade pointed away from him as the butt of the handle smacks into his face. A loud crunch lets her know something's broken.

"How hard is it to shoot her?!" She hears Klaue yell.

There's a grin on her face, she's sure. The adrenaline is bliss, and Colleen is able to take down three more men without being shot.

She's standing just behind the edge of a container hearing for anyone on the other side. They've all gotten quiet now, rather than revealing themselves with callouts. Colleen turns her head at the exact right moment to see two men turning the corner at the same time. She dives to the side, getting just out of the line of fire in time to hear the bullets whizz past her. But then she looks up, and there's three men with their guns aimed down towards her, and Klaue is in the centre, smiling sinisterly.

"Hello love." He said. His hand was transformed now. And she didn't know how she never saw it before, it must have been due to how far away she was. But his left arm from the elbow down looked _fake._ Like it was made of something synthetic. The hand itself was morphed into some kind of blaster shape, and Colleen didn't feel like finding out what shot out of it. He looked smug, like her walking into them was hilarious. Fucking hidden camera's.

"That was a fun little game we played. But its over now. Can't have you ruining anything for me."

Colleen considered her odds. They weren't very good.

"Sorry to disappoint..."

The chi was still flowing through the sword, but even if Colleen could get one of them, she'd surely be killed right after.

One of the men to the left seized up as he fell to the ground stiff as a board. She and the other men turned their heads to look at the nearest shipping container. Perched on top was Jason, in his beat up Nightwave garb. Mask with a menacing snarl, the black ink like substance formed into furrowed brows and abstract lines going down horizontally. His gauntlet was raised, and a section of it was open, something on his wrist had fired a taser of some sort.

"Don't just stare, shoot him!"

It didn't matter, Jason was already gone by the time the men raised their guns to fire, small pellets firing and causing smoke to erupt when they hit the ground.

"Fuck!" One of the men shouted. "I can't see shit!"

"Get out of the smoke!" Klaue yelled. And Colleen heard rather than saw the men scatter. She got up too, deciding to retreat back behind the shipping container she had dove past earlier. There was a scream, from somewhere beyond the smoke, and more scattered gunfire that did not hit its mark based on the slew of curses said afterwards. One of the men came by her, the smoke was up, not really dissipating.

Her fist met his face, glowing white with chi, and the man fell. There were more loud yells of fear, and Colleen could hear multiple hits landing. But when she followed the noise, it wasn't Jason was laying in punches, it was Klaue with his fake hand beating on him.

Colleen ran towards them and reared her fist back. It connected, sending Klaue flying towards his boat. He chuckled.

The men Klaue had brought along with him had stayed on the boat, no doubt waiting for a clear opening. And now they had it. They opened fire without a need for any instruction. Colleen and Jason dove out of the line of fire.

"The vibranium!" Jason yells, voice garbled by the mask.

They don't even know if what he has is actually vibranium, but they're in too deep now.

Colleen bolts for the crate, and Jason fires off more smoke pellets, and it finally comes to her.

How is he fighting like this?

There's no time to think about it further, and so she grabs the crate from earlier and starts dragging. It's surprisingly light, and she curses herself for not researching the rare metal beforehand. Still, Colleen isn't exactly moving fast.

"Fire through the smoke!" Klaue bellows.

"Shit, shit, shit."

A pair of gloved hands grab onto the crate, hefting it up more. Jason's here now, and together they're able to put the entire dock between them and the men. Colleen prays that Klaue doesn't want to make this more public and take this to the streets. Thankfully, they aren't followed. Colleen can already hear sirens approaching. Clearly it wasn't as quiet as they had wanted.

They haul ass all the way back to the apartment, not a soul see's them in the dead of the night.

* * *

When they got inside through the roof entrance, Colleen is immediately questioning him.

"How were you able to fight? I thought your eyesight was still bad?"

Telling her Melvin's address was one thing, she just led him there. But did he even need the help after all?

"It is," Jason confirmed. "I just used my other senses.

They drop the crate of vibranium on the floor.

"Well it was a stupid idea," She tells him, crossing her arms across her chest. "It barely worked at all."

His mask is set in a frown now, "I _saved_ you. Your carelessness almost got you killed."

Flashes of Klaue beating on him go through her mind, and how most of the men he knocked out were blind tackles through the smoke. Colleen doesn't even know why she's so _angry,_ they got the vibranium. But she just wants to hit him and call him stupid - _so stupid_ because he could have gotten hurt, and because he was _right._

She huffs, and stalks off to the bedroom. Colleen stays in there, peeling off her suit and unbraiding her hair until she's just in her underwear, before slipping under the covers. Still immensely angry.

They don't speak for the rest of the night.

* * *

"I don't believe it."

Colleen tries her best not to smirk at Melvin's dumbfounded expression the next night at his workshop. She mostly succeeds.

She wishes she could see Jason's face, his actual face. But then a thought comes to her, about which face _is_ his actual one. The expression on his mask is blank, and it unnerves her. The slight smirk slips away from her features, not that anybody would notice anyway.

Melvin starts to look like a kid on Christmas day who received the greatest present of all time.

"I'll have it ready in two or three weeks, maybe a month." He says, eyes still never leaving the rare metal. Colleen thinks that's way too long, but he speaks again. "I've never worked with vibranium before." She thinks that's not really meant for them to hear, as he says it under his breath, but at least it clears things up.

They leave, Jason having said barely two words at all the entire time.

* * *

For the first time since starting classes again, Colleen feels nervous.

She and Jason have hardly spoken at all since their fight, which is the only thing Colleen can think to call it, despite it not even lasting two minutes.

There's a feeling of walking on eggshells around him now, one she didn't really have before. And it both scares and annoys her. She just doesn't _get_ like this. Ever. But meeting Jason has changed a lot in her life already. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised anymore.

It's only been two days, but the possible month long wait for Melvin's finished products seems far longer than it actually is, and Colleen has no idea how she'll survive like this.

She stares at a wall for god knows how long, before looking at where he's standing in the kitchen, reading the braille off a spice label.

"We need a tv." She mutters, before abruptly getting up, snatching his wallet and keys off the counter before leaving.

* * *

The flatscreen is so tempting. What with Jason's seemingly infinite flow of cash. The store worker is polite, but if she's being honest, a little _too_ eager to help her. Sadly, Colleen can't carry it by herself, and she doesn't want to ask him or heaven forbid _Jason,_ for help.

Instead, she gets a much smaller one. And she feels only a little bad about the frown on the worker's face as she leaves.

On her walk home, the paranoia sets in. It was stupid and childish to leave like that. The amount of danger she's put herself and Jason in just by going outside bothers her immensely. And the sunny New York day seems much less welcoming than previously thought.

A shadow moved just from the edge of a nearby alley. It was just out of the corner of her eye, so fast that Colleen thought she imagined it. She kept walking though, not wanting to let her potential stalker know that they'd been spotted. So on and on she went, taking unnecessary turns, but never stopping and giving any indication that she knew someone was following. 

And then, as Colleen was waiting for the signal to let her know that she could cross, something else happened.

She was in a crowd of other New Yorkers going about their day, but again, out of the corner of her eye, someone quickly stepped into the crowd too. Slipping in just in the nick of time as the light signalled go.

There was nothing to it now, she'd have to lose them or they'd follow her back home. Back to Jason. And that _couldn't_ happen.

Colleen turned into an alley not even remotely close to the apartment, and felt her heart rate quicken when she heard footsteps follow behind her not too long after.

A turn into another street from the alley, she slipped into another crowd crossing over to the other side. Colleen couldn't be sure that whoever was following didn't see her, so as soon as she crossed she started running again. The next alley she entered didn't lead to another street. And panic seizes her.

Sure enough, the footsteps are still chasing right after her. She see's the fire escape's along the side of the grimy New York apartment building wall. Colleen thinks fast, and tosses the tv box up onto the closest one. She winces at the sound it makes as it lands, but hops up soon after anyway, grabbing onto the metal with relative ease. She pulls herself up, and doesn't even bother to look back as she continues to the top, grabbing the tv as she goes.

When she makes it to the roof, the alley bellow is empty. Colleen fights down the uneasy feeling that's creeping up and trying to form into a shiver, and runs off in the direction of home.

* * *

Jason frowns as she enters. "What do you have?"

Colleen opts to answer his question with another question. "You mean you can't tell with your super senses?"

A pause.

"I can smell copper, but I'm not too sure about the rest."

"I can't tell if you're kidding or not."

He smirks.

"Well if you really don't know then, I got us a tv." 

His eyebrows shoot up a little.

"Tv with a blind man, I like the way you think Colleen."

She scoffs, knowing right then and there she'd never admit aloud that she totally didn't think of that. Instead, she responds with sarcasm, a much better option for her ego.

"There's this thing called described audio, you might've heard of it."

He chuckles at that, and Colleen allows herself the small victory. Thank whatever god was out there that he found her biting retorts funny rather than annoying.

When she takes it out, there's a small spiderweb looking crack in the top left corner. Colleen grimaces. "Shit."

"What?" Jason asks, looking over at her.

"Cracked the tv."

He lets out an incredulous laugh. "How did you manage that?"

Colleen hesitates, caught between not really wanting to tell him about how close she was to being tailed here, but knowing she should.

So she explains, and watches on as Jason's mouth sets into a thin line, his expression carefully blank. Colleen knows he wants to yell, to berate her, or maybe it's what she believes, welcomes, even. Some monstrous part of her craves the argument. She readies herself, preparing for what's about to happen.

Instead, he's silent for a little after she finishes explaining. And then finally, speaks. "Just be more careful next time." Jason turns away, back to his book, and Colleen can practically see his walls raise. Blocking her off. Keeping her out.

It's worse than any screaming match between them ever could be.

* * *

The second week is uneventful, which in many ways makes it worse than the first. She'd rather be put in life threatening situations than face Jason's version of the cold shoulder. He's not normally a talkative person. Not that he won't talk at length about something, but Colleen is always the one to initiate conversations, while Jason seems more comfortable with the silence. Now though, she can feel the tenseness in the apartment, takes in how he notices her, where she sits, how close, things like that.

Thankfully, despite the crack, the tv works fine, and is a welcome distraction. Her days and nights are filled with movie marathons of various different genre's. It's not until she's moved on from Christopher Nolan's films to the Star Wars movies that Jason breaks the silence, his first time ever since she got the tv, and the first time he's ever started one.

"Is this Star Wars?"

Colleen blinks, realizes he's talking to _her,_ and then answers.

"Uh, yeah, New Hope. Have you seen it?"

He nods, squinting slightly at the screen, no doubt trying to make out what's going on. "Foggy took personal offence when I told him I'd never seen a Star Wars movie. He made me come over to his place and watch it. Ignored his girlfriend the whole night."

Colleen smiles at that, and is delighted when she notices that he is too. "He seemed like a funny guy when he came to pick you up after class." She said, remembering the day fondly. It felt like forever ago that she was teaching at Chikara. "Sounds like you guy's are close."

"Have to be." He said, now watching the movie as best as he could with an inscrutable look on his face. "After M-" he cuts himself off, grimaces, and doesn't speak more. 

She wants to talk more, but nothing comes to mind. Not until they're a bit farther into the movie, where Luke is rescuing Leia from the Death Star.

"They're cute." Jason says abruptly, when Leia's the one taking charge to get them out. 

Colleen can't help it, she starts laughing.

He frowns at her, and she snorts.

"What?"

"It's- it's just, oh god I don't want to spoil it."

He shakes his head. "Now you have to tell me."

"T-they- they kiss in the next movie."

Now Jason just looks confused, and that only makes Colleen giggle _more._

"Well what's so funny about that?"

"They're siblings."

Jason opens and closes his mouth several times, before finally settling on one word.

"Oh."

* * *

Sadly, that conversation was just a rare occurrence, and the next day, it was back to no longer speaking.

Needing something to do, and wanting to take her mind off of how dismal it was in the tiny apartment, Colleen decided to workout. It was a wonder that she didn't start earlier, but the whole "murderous cult looking for you" thing was quite a distraction.

Jason watches on for a bit with a slight tilt to his head as she moves the furniture back, creating a nice space for herself.

Colleen's stripped down to a slightly too large tank top and sweatpants, her hair braided so it wouldn't get in the way.

Feeling his eye's on her isn't as unnerving as she originally thought it'd be, it was more curious, if anything. Their lack of talking meant that she didn't know how much of his sight had come back in the past two weeks. The urge to ask was tempting. She dropped down to do pushups instead.

She worked up a decent sweat, switching over to multiple different exercises. Jason looked over from time to time from the couch.

When it was over, Colleen knew she desperately needed a shower, and so she did. One of the longest she'd ever taken. During it, she wondered how this was all still here and running, if the owner was dead. She asked exactly that when she exited, wearing a towel secured above her chest, and one wrapped around her hair.

Jason, still sitting in the exact same spot with his book, didn't even look over to answer. "Me, Foggy, and Karen take turns paying the rent." 

Her good mood threatened to evaporate at that. Colleen knew why they'd be doing that.

Hope.

But Jason didn't look sad at all. In fact, he seemed... distracted. His answer came out in a rush, and his hands were roving at a ridiculous speed over the braille book. His cheeks were slightly pink tinged.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Uh, y-yeah!" He coughs, no doubt realizing how absurdly loud he said the word. "Yeah," Jason says at a normal volume. "All good."

She turns away from him, about to lean down to grab her water bottle off the floor when he speaks again.

"Just, er, sights almost all back."

Colleen turns back around and is about to congratulate him when it hits her.

If his sight is mostly good, that means he's more or less been able to see her workout this entire time.

She just gave him full view of her ass. She's been giving him one for almost an _hour._

"Oh."

It's all she can think to say. Funny how the tables turn.

* * *

Jason having his sight back does not help with the awkwardness, but on the plus side, he can't just give her the cold shoulder by reading braille books. Or maybe he could, if he was feeling especially petty.

They're in the kitchen now, with Jason handing out various spices for her to examine. She smells a few, before shaking her head, he nods, and then looks for more. Colleen notices that now with his sight back, Jason is always looking at her, as if he'd forgotten what she looked like, and wanted to burn it into his memory. Every time she meets his gaze Colleen finds it hard to look away. There's no denying it now. Somehow, in this tiny apartment in Hell's Kitchen, she's fallen for him. It's so stupid, how she's gotten here. From some student that impressed her to a hero that amazed her, and now a man that she can't help but care for.

Colleen realizes that she wants to learn more about him, his life before getting powers, hobbies, that kind've stuff. Things she'd want to know about if they were two normal people living normal lives. She wonders if she would have met him had that been the case, but it doesn't really matter. They're heroes, as much as she doesn't think the title fits her, and they're being hunted by some cult leader with magical powers.

Instead of asking, she motions to his cell phone, and he rolls his eyes. Colleen's always been a picky eater, something her mother and grandfather never stopped getting on her about. But fuck it, Jason wasn't either of those things, and if he wanted sticky rice and samosa's with peas in them that was his decision. She was perfectly happy with eating her greasy burgers. Call it a cheat day.

There's no good time to talk about any of it, really. Every time she gets the courage to open her mouth and talk, she closes it right back up. Jason's thankfully sitting on the couch and watching television while eating though, and doesn't see any of this as she's at the kitchen counter behind him, with the t.v placed precariously on the floor between the door to the bathroom and sliding door of the bedroom.

"You want to say something." He says out of nowhere.

Colleen is so taken aback that she forgets to chew before swallowing, chugging iced tea to help the little chunk of burger go down easy. "W-what?"

She feels like an _idiot_.

"Your breathing changes every time you're about to."

By now, those words don't creep her out, she's come to expect it from him.

"I just wanted to say I was sorry, about the t.v." Not exactly what she wanted to say, but apologizing had been on her mind ever since the non-argument anyway.

He shrugs, "It's okay, I was just worried about you. I'm sorry too, for ignoring you and for the vibranium thing."

An inexplicable warmth rises up in her at his words. She's got a goofy grin on her face, she just knows it.

"And, er, the workout thing the other day too."

She's blushing now, but it's nice to see heat creep up his neck at that too.

"All good," Colleen assures him. "I did kinda give you an open invitation."

Jason's facing her now, and if anything he reddens more than before. Colleen smirks.

"I miss this." He says, no doubt trying to move past his embarrassment. "Having people to talk to. Not that I had many before but, after Matt died, it brought me, Foggy and Karen closer together sure, but it felt like all we had now was the guilt and burden of his death hanging over us." It's the first time he's said his name.

"Vigilantism doesn't leave much room for the friend department." She said, but Jason shakes his head.

"It's not just that, before all of this too I-" He stops, eyes locked onto her own. "I had no one."

Colleen feels like she's just heard something she wasn't supposed to, but it's clear Jason's talking to her. He doesn't say anything else right away, and desperate to get him to talk more, Colleen speaks too.

"Go on." She says, soft, but encouraging. She's eager to hear more about this man who wormed his way into her life. It's unlike him to speak so much.

"Only he knows about where I really come from, how I got my powers and all that." Jason continues, perhaps emboldened by her words. "I-it's so hard to talk about this stuff, because whenever I do it just _hurts_."

Her heart beats wildly in anticipation, what spurred on this sudden need to talk about it?

"There's a reason I haven't seen Star Wars, why I don't get half of the pop culture references Foggy makes. Hell, I'm not even totally sure if I'm right about this but... I was part of some government experiment. Whatever they did to me, it gave me my powers." He pauses, and swallows harshly. "I don't remember much, I think I was put to sleep for most of it. But I remember the _testing_ , and all the _pain_. When I woke up properly, the place was destroyed and abandoned. There were a few bodies around the place, crushed under some rubble, but that was it. I could barely walk when I got out of my pod, but when I did, I h-heard a voice."

This was all too much to take in. Jason's expression looked downright haunted.

"It was calling my name. My sight was blurry, and I felt very disoriented, but I heard it, I swear I did. Just kept repeating it over and over, and then... 'find me'." She moved to sit beside him, and clasped one of his hands in both of her own. "They wiped my _memory._ The only reason I knew my first name was because of some voice in my head. Isn't that crazy?"

He wasn't hyperventilating, wasn't on the verge of a panic attack either. He was just recalling what no doubt was a traumatizing moment in his life. "It talked to me more after that, still does to this day, even though I've 'found' it." At her confused look, he clarified. "The mask." Colleen's eyes widened. "Don't bother asking, I have no idea how it does what it does. All I know is that it's unlike any other type of mask on earth, naturally keeps out anything but oxygen, let's me see in the dark, all kinds of tactical stuff." He glanced over to where the mask was placed at the foot of the closet, like it was trying to peek at them, it's expression blank from what Colleen could see at the angle it was laying down at. She wondered if it had said anything to him then, but Jason turned back to her and kept talking.

”I woke up a little under a year ago, and the first person I met was Matt. Nearly fought him too out of panic, but he took me in, gave me a place to stay so I could sort myself out. He risked his identity to help me, I wouldn't know until later that he knew I wasn't lying, which I guess is why he did it. I owe so much to him. He inspired me, gave me a purpose. See, they wiped my memories to put new ones in, ones that weren't really mine. Lifetimes of information implanted inside me to make me the perfect soldier. I could go on for days about the things I can know, but there's things I don't either. Guess they bit off more than they could chew with whatever gave me my powers, or maybe they were found out, or something, I don't know. But they never finished." He pauses.

"I struggled for a long time with feeling incomplete, like I was a mistake and not a proper human being. Still do feel that way sometimes I guess. I have no idea who I am, where my parents, if they're even alive, are. Only found out I had a lot of money pretty recently. Learned my last name too, thought that'd maybe help find my parents but..." He trailed off, before shaking his head. "Listen, I- I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I'm grateful for you. It's silly, but, this time we've spent cooped up together in my dead best friend's apartment? I care about you, I guess, I'm not used to that feeling, small friend circle after all. It's different than Foggy and Karen though, I guess it's comparable to what I had with Matt." He pauses again. "I don't really know how to explain myself better than that." He says sheepishly. "When this is all over, I -, I just hope we stay in contact, y'know?"

She did, oh how she did. It was silent now, and Jason had started to look a little uncomfortable. Maybe he thought he shared too much? Colleen could assuage that worry.

"I grew up in Japan," She began. "Lived with my mom and grandfather in the mountains of Honshu." He didn't look upset at the mention of parents, so she figured it was okay to keep talking. "My mom was something special, every day she'd wake me up real early and make my favourite food, always dotting on me. And I ate that shit up, y'know? Her and my grandfather came from a line of samurai and daimyōs that spanned generations of our family. I named our cat after my grandfather. Mom would take me along to do our daily chores, drop me off at school and then she'd go to work. She always worked shit hours, her boss was a real asshole. Before those long hours when the economy was shit though, she'd take me as high as she could up a mountain, and we'd watch the tasogare together.”

“I guess the struggle to provide for three was too much, because she left when I was ten. After that, my grandfather was the only one taking care of me. He taught me how to fight like his ancestors did, and later, we moved to New York when even he couldn't work there anymore. I was thirteen then, when we got here, had some relatives that were able to take us in. I was nineteen when he died, and pretty much able to take care of myself by then. Bakuto found me, recruited me into The Hand, and I was trained for four years in their ways until I was ready to train others. Gave that all up to help Danny fight them."

There was so much more, how she got her powers, where Danny was now, but the look on Jason's face stopped her. It was just sheer gratitude. They could both say they knew each other well now, at least, she jokingly thought to herself. And then Colleen realized just how close they had gotten, not figuratively either, but literally. Her face was inches from his, and Jason's expression was now wide eyed. They were so close, so...

Her lips were on his before she could even register what she was doing.

She was kissing him, it started out slowly but soon enough her hands had let go of his and were in his hair, bunching up his shirt. His hands found new places too, it was a little clumsy, but one was just above her hip and the other cupped her face. Her heart was in her throat, beating so loudly she was sure he could hear it. He fell back onto the couch, and Colleen straddled him. He bucked his hips up sporadically, and they both moaned through another desperate kiss. His hand left her face to explore under her shirt, and when his fingertips hit the edge of her bra, she nodded her assent and moaned when he cupped her breast. He wasn't doing anything other than that though, so she finally spoke up. "Pinch my nipple." Colleen gasped out.

His eyes, so filled with desire were boring into her own, and he nodded. Her hand trailed downwards now, and she grabbed his dick through his sweat pants, earning herself another moan of pleasure. She realizes now, that she's wanted this for awhile, and his if his reciprocation was anything to go by, he wanted it too.

And then his phone rang, startling both of them. His hands shot off her, and Colleen did the same. It was Melvin. Neither of them picked it up though, both breathing heavily and staring at each other with wide eyes. Eventually, the phone stopped. But soon after the voicemail came on.

Melvin let them know that the suits were done, and to come by whenever, but it all drowned out for her.

What had they just done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Defender's takes place in 2016, DD season 3 is roughly in 2017. I know Klaue dies in July of 2016, let's just say this takes place mere weeks before Killmonger recruits him for the events of the Black Panther movie. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too exposition-y (making that a word), and the stuff at the end makes sense and feels natural.


	4. don't say a word

Somehow, there's just enough vibranium for both suits, which surprised her. Colleen had thought for sure that Jason would be the one to get the majority of it in his suit. It was still all black, but now less tactical looking, and more sleek. The pouches he had around his waist were gone. And the gauntlets were less bulky.

"The gloves can emit electric shocks now too, along with still being able to shoot mini tasers still." Melvin said, snapping Colleen out of her thoughts. "Both of your suits will be virtually indestructible. At least, the parts I could get made with it. Splitting it between the two of you was tough."

She looks over to Jason, who's encased in the shadows of the corner of the room closest to the door. Colleen herself is in the opposite one. He didn't say a word on the way here, and Colleen wondered what exactly that meant. What they _did_ was something that Colleen didn't plan, but she couldn't honestly say it was something that she didn't want, either.

"Thank you, Melvin." Jason says. "You've helped us immensely."

Colleen has to agree. Her suit looks good too, if mostly still the same. Like Jason's, it's just sleeker. And Melvin, the adorable man, blushes such a dark shade of red, she would've thought he had a crush on him.

She eyed him curiously on the rooftop of Melvin's workshop after they had collected the suits. They were stuffed into large and sturdy looking metal cases. The trek home wasn't long, which was nice, and the cases weren't all that heavy despite their appearances.

"Race you."

He looked at her, impossible to read behind the mask. And then, something miraculous happened.

Jason snorted. "You'd lose." 

That was only _probably_ true. Jason was more than likely faster than her, but Colleen knew the streets better than he did. Which... was honestly a kind of fucked up thing to think, considering what he had told her barely an hour ago. She wondered if he was as delightfully flustered now as he was before. Colleen wasn't, she knew that much. In fact, she wanted _more._ But didn't know how to initiate, she didn't want to force anything on him either, not the second time. He had to want it too.

"Wanna bet?"

He stood there for a few moments, looking in the direction of home. Colleen shifted uneasily when he still didn't respond, losing a smidgen of confidence.

"Alright."

Hardly believing it, Colleen readied herself and got into a running position. "On your marks," she said, feeling like a walking cliché, "get set... go!"

In the end, it wasn't much of a contest. Jason moved with effortless grace from rooftop to rooftop, while Colleen moved purely with speed in mind. Even then though, they remained more or less neck and neck. It was hard not to marvel at the way he moved, pulling of flips that were hilariously unnecessary. "Now you're just showing off!" She called loudly, hoping he'd heard. This was stupid, so incredibly stupid. Someone could see them, and not just civilians either. But Colleen found it hard to care at the moment. Adrenaline coursed through her, and she laughed, caught up in the thrill of it all. She could see a shortcut, coming off, if she dipped down to the streets. A big building was coming up, the last one in between them and home. Jason would most likely go around, but Colleen knew a better way.

When the opening came, she took it, it cut into her speed to take the time to get down safely, but she kept on going. Cutting through an alley, and coming up on the building. She climbed onto the fire escape, practically flinging herself up level by level. When she finally got to the top, it took two seconds for Jason to land on the roof as well. 

"You cheated," He said.

She grinned from behind the mask. "Sounds like something a loser would say."

He huffed, and her heart was beating wildly, she didn't even care if he could hear it. His chest was heaving, and Colleen wanted nothing more than for his mask to be off. Instead, they walked inside, locking the door behind them.

The excitement died a horrible death there. The apartment was trashed, almost everything had been either upturned or obviously searched through. One of the very few things that looked unscathed by the ransacking, was the coffee table. On it, was a yellow sticky note with one word written down.

_Regards._

* * *

How long had they'd known?

That was the only thing on Colleen's mind. They only coherent line of thought she could conjure up right now. But Jason? Jason had leapt out the window, telling her to stay put while he checked the area.

And so she stood in the ransacked apartment, foot tapping nervously. Hand gripping her sword.

Nothing was taken, no doubt they'd shown up looking for them. She didn't touch the sticky note, left it sitting on the coffee table, mocking her.

A noise from outside startled her, but it was just Jason stepping onto the fire escape. He shook his head when he caught her look.

"Nothing."

It didn't make her feel better.

"Start packing. We need to leave." 

Colleen scoffed, and felt bad immediately. She was just _scared._ And the mere fact that she _was_ just made her mad. "And go where?" She still had a point though.

He rummaged around in the closet, facing away from her. "My place, for a bit at least. Until we can think about a better location. Should be at least a little safe, considering how long it took for them to break in here." He paused in his searching, taking out a terrified looking Kenji, who Colleen had forgotten about, and a small trunk. Jason opened it, and Colleen saw a flash of bright red on something silky with stitched yellow words that she couldn't make out. He lifted it a bit, revealing black clothing, and then closed it back up. "They don't actually know who I am so, as long as they didn't see you around there we should be alright."

Sure. Okay. It was as good a plan as any, and she really didn't have anything better.

They left quickly, Kenji was tucked securely under Jason's arm, there wasn't much else to pack. The rooftops seemed as clear as they were when they had arrived, but then again, the Hood could've been lying in wait for them to return. Surprisingly though, nothing happened. The trip to his apartment went smoothly. Scarily smoothly.

"I don't stay here much." Jason muttered to her, idly petting and shushing Kenji as he whined and squirmed. They stood on an opposing rooftop to the apartment now.

"I could tell." She whispered back. He nodded in response, as if expecting that, before running to jump across the gap. It was larger than usual, but Jason still made it look annoyingly easy even with that big case and tiny cat in one hand. Landing on the roof of his apartment, before slowly climbing his way down through the fire escape to his window. There were cameras around, she knew, but the only one looking his way was conveniently turned off.

Clever.

Colleen made the jump too, not nearly as easily as he did, the bag of clothes and some tech jostled scarily. When she went through the window, Jason's mask was off and he had his phone to his ear. Kenji had darted off into another room. She turned back to look outside at the camera from before, it was turned on now.

"Sorry Fogs, I just called to warn you. I wouldn't go back there. Hell, I'd even hold off on paying his rent for a little too." He said. Jason nodded his head along to whatever Foggy was saying on the other line. "I know man, I'm safe though. Pretty sure they don't know where I live." He winced. "Yeah, yeah we're not staying here for long don't worry." Another stretch of Foggy talking that she couldn't hear no matter how hard she tried. "Okay, stay safe. Bye."

"The camera outside turned on and off again when we entered."

Jason nodded, unsurprised. "It does that." He walked over to a bare wall near his television. "Thank David Lieberman." 

Her brow arched up. "Who's that?"

He smiled wryly, before placing his now ungloved hand on the wall. "A dead man."

 _Whatever,_ he was clearly enjoying some little inside joke with himself. And then the wall opened up, and all sour thoughts about David Lieberman and sarcasm evaporated from her mind. The wall separated neatly, opening up a compartment with indents that were shaped like pieces of armour. Jason started taking his suit off. Ah. Nice. Colleen resisted the urge to stare, as the bare skin on his well defined arms were revealed. Crushed the bad thoughts, tossed them down a well. That was the extent of it though, as he was wearing rather tight black clothing underneath. Was just a t-shirt in the end. Oh well.

"Do you have David Lieberman to thank for this too?" She asked, not quite as sarcastic as she wanted, still too awe-filled. Drat.

"Mhm, Melvin as well."

Of course.

"You know a lot of interesting people."

Jason shrugged. "Hardly anymore than you do."

She supposed that was true, so instead of trying to come up with a witty response, she went into his bedroom to change. Colleen peeled off her suit, and dug through his drawers to find something comfy to wear. His shirts were plain, hardly any proper nightwear too, but plenty of stuff that she could see him lounging around in. Colleen looked at what they had packed. It wasn't much really, just the clothes she had bought on a trip out into the city. She didn't stay long then, so options were slim. She'd need to wash most of it too, including all her underwear. Shrugging, she slipped out of the pair she was wearing now, and grabbed one of his boxers and a gray shirt. Colleen hoped he wouldn't mind.

He didn't, it turned out. Attention solely focused on the flat screen television in front of him. News reports and the like.

"Nothing interesting," He said to her when she returned, before looking at her oddly. Kenji was back, weaving from in between his feet, rubbing his cheek against him. "Are you wearing my boxers?"

Colleen shrugged, fighting back the grin that threatened to overtake her face. Jason just looked bemused.

Their feeble attempt at planning didn't get very far. Mostly because there was one obvious conclusion; patrol the streets in hope of activity. So instead after that revelation they just sat on his sofa, both of them deep in thought. It was shitty, and made Colleen feel like they weren't ready at all. Which they weren't. She tried to think about this all being over. Like maybe they could go out properly somewhere, preferably nice. Expensive, because he could afford it. A restaurant or something. Anything. But her mind kept showing the Wrecker swinging his magical crowbar into Jason's face. Only this time it killed him. Didn't help much surprisingly.

She looked over at him, all sweaty from running and leaping and full of uncertainty. Emotion was a rarity from Jason up until today. Colleen didn't know how to deal with it.

"What're you thinking?" She asked. Because really, what else could she say? 

His eyes flicked to hers, brown orbs that showed nothing and everything at the same time. Staring into her soul like it was an open book. And then he looked at the mask, perched on a small desk against a lamp tucked away into a corner.

"That this won't end well."

_Great._

* * *

Patrol was boring. The first few nights out, and barely anything of note had happened. It was to be expected, she knew. Didn't mean she had to like it though. So Colleen sat on the ledge of a condo near 9th avenue, overlooking a bank. She didn't find it likely that the Hood would try anything that obvious, but there wasn't much else to do about it. Well, besides beating on some of Hell's Kitchen's least desirable. But the night so far had been relatively quiet.

She took a sip of her slushy. Too syrupy. Jason would probably have some unkind words about it. Colleen tried to imagine them to keep herself busy. Probably something tame. Jason didn't really curse, which was the complete opposite for her. Colleen could easily remember each and every scolding she'd ever gotten from both her mother and grandfather. Thought about trying to get him to swear - really let loose. It'd be cute, him either refusing to say it or saying it with hesitation. She frowned then, feeling much too like a school girl. Colleen shook her head, and then took another sip, grimacing again when it still tasted bad.

Her hand rose and pressed the com link in her ear. "Anything?" Silence, besides the static. For a few moments at least, and Colleen let the foolish hope that he'd actually found something wash over her.

"No," he said, and just like that the hope was flushed out. Now there was just disappointment. "the city's quiet, like it's waiting with baited breath." He continued.

She grunted softly, and he sighed. "It's probably fine." Now she raised an eyebrow. "Stop," he said.

"You don't even know what I'm doing." Colleen defended herself, throwing her hands up half heartedly.

Now it was his turn to grunt skeptically. She rolled her eyes. A stray dog sifted through some garbage in the alley below her. Knocking over a trashcan and going in snout first. She let her slushy drop before she could think better of it. Heard it crack and spill everywhere when it hit the ground. Scared the shit out of the poor dog. Aahhhh she felt like a dick now.

"What are you thinking about?" Jason said, voice cutting through her silent apologies to a dog.

"That I'd like to go back to your place. Sleep. Preferably in your bed. With you." She said, and smiled at the silence she got in return. He was laughably easy to tease.

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." He said, voice ever so even, but with a hint of something else...

Colleen was about to respond, but first she needed to get over the shock of him even teasing _back_. Albeit in his own way.

The crack of a gunshot, followed by a scream that _ripped_ through the so far calm New York night made her instantly alert. A beat, and then another, and a second scream erupted from somewhere close by. Even more blood curdling than the first. Sounded like someone had wrenched it from the victim's _throat._

In an instant, she was off the ledge and on her feet, moving around to the other side of the rooftop where the fire escape was.

"Colleen?" Jason's voice came over. 

"9th avenue. Hurry." Was all she said.

"No, no, no," he responded quickly. "Something isn't right."

 _No shit_ , she wanted to say, but instead focused on finding the source of the screen now that she was street level. Most people were asleep now. Only some of New York's homeless paid her any mind. Another scream, sounding more desperate than the last too. Colleen started to run.

"I hear it too."

That nearly stopped her. _Nearly._ She rounded a corner, someone driving by in a car glanced at her before frowning. Colleen got to where she could have sworn she'd heard the screams coming from, but it was just the graffitied side of a closed book store. Maybe they were inside? Yet somehow, that didn't seem right. A fourth scream, and Colleen slapped her hands to her ears. It came from right above her. But when she looked, there was nothing, just a small black object that looked like some sort of camera.

"I found something," he said. Voice all distorted now. Did he have the mask off before? Didn't matter. Not right now anyway. "I'm at the source." Which was weird, and made zero sense, because so was she. "There's a device." She didn't see him, but that didn't mean much. "Can you see me?" She asked.

"No."

Well, fuck.

"I'm at the source too, so if you don't see me..." She trailed off. A fifth scream. Colleen was expecting it. Still hurt anyway.

"I think it's a speaker." He said, and Colleen heard something shatter from his end. "Try breaking yours." She did, it let out a timid high pitched whine when she connected with her sword before falling to the ground and shattering. For a moment, nothing changed. But then she heard the same sort of scream, this time it sounded far. "Someone set these up across Hell's Kitchen." Jason grunted, she heard his footsteps through the com link. She figured that out now, thank you very much.

"So we're just going to follow them?" Colleen asked incredulously. Because really? This whole thing screamed trap.

"We haven't had anything in days, you want to just call it a night and _not_ investigate?"

Good point.

* * *

 _This is one-hundred percent a trap_ Jason thought darkly, scaling rooftop after rooftop to the next scream. He stopped after the seventh rooftop, and _listened._ His senses were good, better than the average person by far, but he had nothing on Matt. It was hard, trying to pinpoint where to go, because unlike Colleen, he heard multiple screams. One was coming from the direction of Harlem, and so many more from all over that it threw his head for a loop.

 _You're playing right into their hand_ a voice said in his head. He ignored it. Sprinted and leapt to another roof that lead closer to a scream from the north. Couldn't feel the cold New York night, not anymore at least. Vibranium handled that. The back of his head though? That's something he'd have to talk to Melvin about. Jason landed where the next speaker was, destroyed it with ease. He stood there for a moment, trying to listen some more.

" _-ust destroyed the one at the north sector, waiting to see what he does next._ "

It was coming from around the corner of a separate building behind him A pet store, by the smell of it. The faint buzzing of the neon sign not enough to mask the person's voice.

 _Behind you_ the voice said again. Unhelpfully. Jason moved away, running down the street, before making a sharp left turn to an alleyway once he was out of the persons eyesight. Doubted they set up camera's, considering the lookout. He made his way back around to the pet store. Climbing up on the roof of another building behind it. Dark alley's and shady backlots, New York was full of them. Fortunately for him, not so much for the man below, still reporting over to someone through his phone.

Jason slinked over to him, snuck up behind the man without him hearing. Dragged him into the shadows, showed him just how wary one needed to be of New York at night. Whispered horrifying things into his ear, made the man spill his guts, with the promise of doing it literally.

There was a woman, kidnapped. Could've recorded her screams and had them played out for anyone to hear. But then surely, someone would have called the police by now. And yet, no matter how much he focused, Jason couldn't hear any sirens, police or otherwise.

He could work with that. Maybe.

This time, it wasn't a warehouse, but an apartment close to one. Knocked the man out, left a voicemail for Brett with the location and climbed onto the roofs again. The mask whispered to him more, but Jason tuned it out. Unimportant rambling, like it always was. Reached up with his left hand to tap the com link in his ear, realized how exposed his head was. Yeah, definitely have to talk to Melvin about it eventually. It was a miracle that he hadn't smacked the back of his head on something and died already.

"Colleen, I've got a location."

When she responded, he told her the address. Kept on running though. Startled a resident of a condo when he landed particularly roughly on their roof. Just barely heard a cat yowl. He didn't envy Colleen, having to smell all the pollution in the air on pretty much every rooftop.

Got to where the man had said she was being held at. Top floor, not more than five men guarding the place. Except he couldn't hear any heartbeats. Not even the one of the victim. Just music being played from the floors below. He landed on the fire escape quietly. Windows were boarded up, which was fine. Might as well have been covered with paper for all the good it'd do. But he didn't bust in yet. Either the man who'd given the location away was an exceptional liar, or something was wrong here. Jason didn't think the former was likely. The mask let out a raspy laugh, quiet, compared to its other outbursts, but it still bounced around his head all the same.

Jason didn't understand, not until he really _listened_ again, could hear liquid oozing and dripping all over the apartment. There was a frightening amount of it coming from inside. Could have been water, probably wasn't. Figuring it was probably better to go through here than the bottom, he reared his right hand back, and let a wet sensation settle around his arm. Didn't need to try very hard, so he punched it without too much force put behind it. Still smashed the window and boards into smithereens. Shot a smoke pellet from a shooter that erected out of the top of his wrist with a near silent _whirr._ Hopped into the room. Still nothing. But the soles of his boots were instantly soaked, not that it really got through though.

Another raspy giggle that swam in his skull, he tried to ignore it. The mask switched his view to thermals, but it didn't make a difference. There was nothing here. Not alive, anyway.

And when the smoke cleared, the mask chimed in again.

_This is the best part_

His view switched back to normal, and the woman was dead. Opened up from her waist all the way to her sternum. She was strung up, hands tied together and hanging off the ceiling fan, her face still looked vaguely terrified. Jason saw a few of her organs around the room. There wasn't an inch of the floor that wasn't covered in her blood.

_Bleed more_

His patience snapped. "Shut the fuck up." The mask obeyed immediately. Jason heard footsteps, four pairs of them pounding their way up the stairs to him. Music had cloaked their heartbeats before. Must've heard him break in, or had something set up that escaped his notice.

Didn't matter, they couldn't hide from him anymore.

The door came off its hinges, and four men burst into the room. They rushed him, which was smart. Usually people would stop and gawk. It let him form a plan easier. Not that he needed a plan for this. They were all dressed the same, crimson red robes that looked open enough to allow good movement while not being a loose hinderance. Had hoods too, covered most of their faces well enough. The first one sent a haymaker at him, Jason sidestepped, let his momentum carry him to the window. The second and third ones came at the same time. He caught the one on the right with a fist to the gut, ducking over the one on the lefts punch. Jason spun his leg, tripped him as he too fell victim to his own momentum. Hit the ground hard.

_Good._

One on the right didn't stay doubled over, but still long enough to catch the fourth man in an arm drag that flipped him on his back, could hear the wood crack underneath him. Probably knocked the air out of him. Grabbed the one he punched by the hood, made him stand. Punched him in the face, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. Was about to turn on the fourth and second one, when a fist connected with his jaw. Sent him flying into the drywall of the shitty apartment, nearly went through it too. Head was pounding now - _how had he forgotten the first one? -_ but he still heard a panicked scream and someone running away. Good, maybe they'd call the police.

 _Get up!_ the mask all but yelled in his head, but Jason stayed firmly where the wall had caught him, still kind of laying in it. All four were back on their feet, the one on the far right was hunched a little, and the one next to him was favouring his jaw, hood removed from the punch and revealing a ginger-haired man with a brand new black eye and stubble to match. They got closer, like a lion knowing its gotten its prey. Suckered them in, let them think they'd won. So they were enhanced then. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. _Guess they thought they could just rush me and win._ To be fair, it was probably their best shot at beating him.

They inched closer slowly, tentatively. Maybe they didn't think it was going to be this easy. Which, yeah.

Finally, when they got just close enough, Jason sprang out from the wall, entire body filled with that same wet sensation from before. He could see his fists glow an ethereal yellow light like a sun. Punched the one with his hood down, connected right with his jaw. Heard the bone shatter, sent him flying into the _other_ wall. More bones cracked then too. The other three rushed forward, but when the one on the left punched him, his hand snapped back harmlessly off Jason, but by the terrible crunching noise, the man had just broken every bone in his hand. Wrist too, maybe. The last two stopped, seemed to think better of it. None of it mattered. He caught them both, rushed them for once. Punched one and he crashed to the ground immediately and didn't get up. Jason grabbed the other by the hem of his robe, and then gave his left knee a brutal kick, the man's leg cracking and bending at an impossible angle. He passed out on the floor.

The mask cackled with glee.

Jason stood there for a few moments, just breathing heavily. A woman died, and for what? Just so they could get to him? He could hear harsh breaths being taken, the man who'd originally had his hood off was struggling to breathe from where he laid. A part of him thought it was good, that he deserved it. Jason still walked over and pressed his hand to the mans chest all the same. Let his power heal the terribly broken ribs that were obstructing his breathing. Felt a little tired after it, so he wasn't going to help with the jaw, maybe eating through a straw for a few years at least would be a good punishment. It would never be enough though. A woman had died for this.

And then, a phone rang.

It came from the man's robe pocket. Jason reached in, and pulled it out. _Unknown Caller_ flashed across the screen, and he accepted the call. A familiar British voice spoke.

"That you, Nightwave? Don't answer that, the dead silence gives it away. Long time no see, eh? Bit more literal for you."

Jason frowned, felt a spike of anger, but didn't speak. Let him do the talking, and he'd eventually say something of note.

"Figured the men I had there still wouldn't be a match for you, but that's alright." Hood continued. "I think it sent my message loud and clear."

"Enlighten me." Jason said, finally speaking up.

"You can't stop me. _This._ Any of it really. Soon, I will rise up, and soon, _he_ will too. You weren't supposed to get away that day, but now, now I have you." The building shook violently, felt like there was an earthquake going on, and Jason struggled to stay standing. "And so do they. See you soon." The call ended, and Jason let the phone fall, but he fell too as the building _tilted._ He hit the wall that had the window he entered through hard and the mask _screamed_ in his ear. Tried to summon his powers, but a wrecking ball slammed through the wall to his left, arcing through the air and catching him in the stomach. He felt the air rush out of his lungs, could do nothing but try and regain what he had lost as the building smashed to the ground with a deafening thump.

* * *

When he came to, it took every bit of strength he had to push himself out of the rubble. His powers were waning but he still had just enough left for this. Jason knew he had a concussion. Could tell by the way the streetlight nearly made him blind again. Blurry vision, and a horrendous high pitched whine in his ear made it hard to function, but eventually found his footing.

"Oh this'll be good."

His head snapped up at the voice, regretted it immediately. The Wrecking Crew. All four of them stood in front of him, all standing over the rubble looking far too gleeful. Wrecker stood in front of the rest, he was the one who had spoken. "You're gonna die here, hero. Can't escape me this time." He pulled his crowbar out from the belt around his waist.

Jason nearly fell again, stumbling warily to try and stand straight.

It wasn't a high pitched whine in his ear, it was the mask chanting one word over and over again.

_Run._


End file.
